Listen

One very important lesson that I learned the hard way (which is the way most of us learn lessons - School of Hard Knocks) is to listen to others. No one person has all of the answers to everything. I wish that I had listened more and made my decisions based on what others had experienced and some of their beliefs. I may not have agreed with everyone, I just needed to be more open to LISTEN before I made important life decisions and choices.

Over the last few weeks, I just happened to stumble on some wise words from some famous people that seemed to make a lot of sense to me. You can decide for yourself after reading. For me, I may not agree with many things that some of them basically stand for, I just had to be open minded enough to at least listen to know if their advice could help steer me in the right direction. Throw away all judgment calls.

Out of the seven people that I chose, five just happened to be women and two were men. I am not focusing on what they particularly stand for in their lives, but their words of wisdom. (At least to me they were 'words of wisdom' and made perfect sense).

Let's start with Betty White. She truly is one of my heroes. For those who know me well, I think that you will see when I let you know that her philosophy on life and her longevity is that if you start off your conversation with, "You know what I hate," then you are going to go right down the tubes. She said that she knows it sounds boring but being a positive thinker and a cock-eyed optimist is how she has stayed happy all of her life. Her thought process is that you've got to get through it so just put one foot in front of the other and go for it.

For Viola Davis to say that when she is in doubt, she dives, is an understatement! Her belief is that if we hesitate too much then nothing will happen. We all need to ask for what we want, as it is rarely handed to you. We must go out and take what we need. She obviously lives by this; just look at her accomplishments!

Some of Senator Elizabeth Warren's political thoughts may not be mine, however, I believe that she is spot on with her mantra. I am not endorsing her or any of the other famous people that I am using for examples. Her mantra is to not be so focused in our plans that we are unwilling to consider the unexpected. So very true! 

Cher gives more of a visual for all of us who need to be able to visualize what she is saying, and I include myself. Her belief is that we all have to be like bumper cars. We hit a wall and we then must back up and go a different way and you hit the wall again. The only sure thing according to Cher is that you don't give up. Giving up is not an option.  

Warren Buffett believes that there will come a time that you should take a job doing what you want and love. The kind where you will jump out of bed in the morning excited to get to work. He believes that the younger generations are finally getting it and that is that you don't always need to take a specific job just to look good on your resume. His sense of humor is not lost when he ended this interview by asking if this wasn't a bit like saving up sex for your old age? 

Bill Gates has a simple method to use when making decisions. He states that we should not make the same decision twice - meaning why bother deciding on an issue if it really isn't decided?

All of these famous people do not have all of the answers and have made their own life mistakes. This is called being human. I just find it interesting to listen to others and fit in what will work for me. When I read a story written about Dorothy Hamill

advocating for women to stand up with their doctors for breast cancer and ask the right questions, it was an eye opener. It gave me back some of my own self-confidence that I allowed to be taken away by a particular doctor and his intern. Now I know better.

I can honestly say that I have learned (at least 95% of the time) by following some of the advice from above. Most of the advice is really nothing new, perhaps just stated in different ways by different people. Sometimes, I just need to be reminded. A quote on my desk calendar for today is from Bruce Lee. "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."