Comment Summary

What major life lessons can you share with your classmates?
#	Response Date	Response Text
1	Feb 20, 2009 4:17 PM	Be kind. Give the other person the benefit of the doubt.
2	Feb 24, 2009 9:52 PM	The older get, the more I realize how little I know, and how little ANYONE can really know about ANYTHING. My major life lesson has been to become flexible.
3	Feb 26, 2009 6:21 PM	Wait for the right life partner. Don't worry about what other people think. Be true to yourself. Remember that "good enough" needs to be redefined throughout your life. Tell the truth. Love yourself. Make the effort to be happy - it's worth it!
4	Feb 28, 2009 10:19 PM	Learn how to enjoy life.
5	Mar 1, 2009 4:06 PM	Make plans but be flexible. In my experience, plans fall apart, usually due to circumstances beyond our control.
6	Mar 2, 2009 5:05 PM	Change happens. Your path changes, there are choices, sometimes you can go back and go in a different direction, and sometimes you can't. It's all a journey, and there really is no final destination.
7	Mar 3, 2009 4:14 AM	Humility. Like so many, I graduated from Wellesley with the sense that I was special. Since that time, I've met many people who did not have the privilege of an elite liberal arts education, but who are much smarter and much more hard working than so many with degrees from institutions like Wellesley.
8	Mar 3, 2009 4:21 AM	Breath deeply, try to live in the moment, see how you can be of service to others without worrying about how it may help you, and try to play and laugh as often as possible
9	Mar 3, 2009 3:11 PM	Enjoy your parents while they are still here. Save don't spend. Surround yourself with people that make you laugh. Don't believe everything people say about you. Adopt a pet from a shelter.
10	Mar 4, 2009 1:38 PM	Family and God are the most important things in life. They allow you to grow and achieve your goals. They even help thru your hardships.
11	Mar 4, 2009 7:30 PM	Things do not always turn out the way we think they should have, but mostly that's OK and not worth beating yourself up about.
12	Mar 4, 2009 10:27 PM	Live each day to your fullest ability. Take time to feel joy in what you have done well and learn from the things you have not done well so that you don't repeat the same mistakes.
13	Mar 5, 2009 9:50 PM	Eat your vegetables?
14	Mar 6, 2009 12:37 AM	Be yourself Choose love
15	Mar 6, 2009 10:28 PM	You can't always plan your life, ultimately there is a power larger than us and to think we are not influenced by that power is unrealistic and perhaps even dangerous. When we tune into ourselves and others on a spiritual level (whatever variety), we create a more enlightened and peaceful world both within and around us. The most important thing to do in life is to help others. That is where true freedom is. Don't waste a single day in your live loving those you love and serving those you serve and experiencing joy.
16	Mar 7, 2009 5:07 AM	We can survive far more than we think we can survive. And we are often better, stronger, afterward. Concentrate on the good -- on doing good, making good, spreading good. Nothing else really matters. If you have money, find a way to put it to work doing good. Nothing else really matters.
17	Mar 9, 2009 4:22 PM	Try to enjoy life in the moment. Don't be so task-oriented that you miss what's happening.
18	Mar 11, 2009 2:54 AM	It's hardly ever about you. People get worked up over how other people act towards them and usually the other person's actions are more about themselves than about anything you said, did or are.
19	Mar 12, 2009 2:54 AM	Kids grow up too fast -- hug them
20	Mar 12, 2009 6:07 AM	Take risks, find a way to pursue your dreams, believe in yourself, help others, love deeply.
21	Mar 12, 2009 3:01 PM	A rich life is all about sacrifice. There is no such thing as "balance" (a term oft bandied about by professionals, especially younger female ones); the key thing is knowing how get back on the balance beam each time you fall off and not dwelling on the reason you fell off in the first place.
22	Mar 13, 2009 7:15 PM	Be flexible, open, and willing to adapt; believe that you can tackle and conquer challenges; don't hang onto assumptions about what your life "should" be that are no longer relevant
23	Mar 16, 2009 12:25 AM	The only one that really seems to be at the forefront for me right now is doing work for a living that you love. If I were doing that, it would be easier and less stressful to handle the possibility of being laid off; easier and less stressful to negotiate salary and benefits; easier and less stressful to transition into working for myself instead of for someone else. In other words, any doubt or trepidation would be about where, how, when and not "what" to do for a living.
24	Mar 16, 2009 4:40 PM	I used to be worried about my looks, which are no more than average, until surviving cancer. Now I'm happy to have hair (even on a bad hair day), and I'm happy to have breasts (even if they're not 100% natural), and it doesn't matter to me that I'm heavier than I want to be, because I'm alive.
25	Mar 17, 2009 10:07 PM	Losing one's job creates an opportunity for something better.
26	Mar 19, 2009 1:27 AM	If you hear the voice in your head saying, "If only I could..." STOP. Rephrase. "How could I...?" You'd be surprised.
27	Mar 20, 2009 8:21 PM	"Don't sweat the small stuff"; it's just not worth it!
28	Mar 22, 2009 2:02 PM	Carpe Diem
29	Mar 24, 2009 2:55 PM	You only go around once and lifes stages move so fast. Enjoy the journey - don't focus on the destination.
30	Mar 24, 2009 9:15 PM	Enjoy life, it goes by way too quickly.
31	Mar 25, 2009 9:36 AM	Happiness is a decision you make for yourself. I'm still trying to learn this lesson myself.
32	Mar 27, 2009 4:20 AM	When people say that the best thing you can have is your health, it is true.
33	Mar 27, 2009 8:03 PM	make the most of everything you do. invest in your children
34	Mar 28, 2009 1:53 AM	Don't live down to other people's low expectations. Remember that any boneheaded things that are said to you are really reflections of their own messy internal world.
35	Mar 29, 2009 7:52 AM	show up, be present, try to laugh (Anna Quindlen).
36	Mar 30, 2009 7:29 AM	While you spend most of your waking hours at work, don't forget about yourself, your partner and family. Laugh more.
37	Mar 30, 2009 10:22 AM	Always try to view the glass as half full, remember to count your blessings every day, tell people you love them, practice charity and kindness towards others every day and most importantly, never settle for second best in a life partner - this is the only life you have...
38	Mar 30, 2009 10:37 AM	You can't buy most of the things that are really important-health, family, friends.
39	Mar 31, 2009 2:22 PM	Be at peace with yourself and others. Be willing to forgive yourself and others for actual or perceived shortcomings/mistakes.
40	Mar 31, 2009 7:26 PM	Trying to maintain the work/family/friends balance is a constant challenge - one that my girlfriends and sisters have helped with at many points when the going got tough. I'd have to say that learning to ask for help was the hardest part for me, but always a good decision when it was 'time'.
41	Apr 1, 2009 3:59 AM	Don't give up or let others define you. Appreciate what you have, stay positive and adaptable. Keep in touch with close friends.
42	Apr 1, 2009 6:46 PM	Our experiences throughout life are important and meaningful. We are usually called upon to draw from these experiences later in life. We spend much of our lives learning, and the rest using what we've learned, sometimes in unexpected ways. Drawing from our past, along with patience, courage, persistence and determination, can get us through even the most trying or demanding times.
43	Apr 4, 2009 7:14 PM	Extremes are always trouble. You don't have to choose between 'doing what you love' and 'making money'. You can do both - but maybe not all in one place. I am mortified to say how long it took me to learn this. And, this also took ages, large organizations 'kill' outliers - which is wonderful. I've worked for small companies - which are great places to hide for freaks, losers, and those who couldn't get along with others or follow basic rules. Large companies certainly can try the patience, but small companies can lead you to conclude that Darwin was wrong (the freaks should have 'died out' after all!) I worked at one place where someone couldn't come into work because he had to be in jail. And that was a fairly minor story.
44	Apr 10, 2009 9:28 PM	Do what you like, like what you do. Really. Experiment. And have your glass half full.
45	Apr 12, 2009 10:36 PM	Enjoy each day - you never know what might happen tomorrow.
46	Apr 14, 2009 9:32 PM	If someone you're with, or something you're doing, doesn't feel quite right, you may need to make changes in your life.
47	May 4, 2009 10:38 PM	That finding what you are meant to do, what is meaningful to you, will bring you personal fulfillment, inner peace and conviction & a life purpose, even though it may bring struggles in other ways, e.g. economic challenges.
48	May 5, 2009 1:40 PM	It's never too late to start something new
49	May 7, 2009 2:04 PM	While your career can be so stimulating and rewarding, at the end of the day its your family and friends that will have the most meaning and impact on your happiness.
50	May 9, 2009 4:11 AM	That Ralph Waldo Emerson was right: "Insist on yourself; never imitate." I am learning to trust myself more and more, to seek acknowledgment or praise from others less and less, and to have faith in the power of my dreams. I am also learning that rest is perhaps more important than action, because without proper rest and recovery, it is impossible to be your best.
51	May 9, 2009 3:03 PM	Kids and a family are the best thing to happen to me. People can be loving, caring, generous, talented, interesting. People can be spiteful, thoughtless, mean, greedy, selfish, stupid.
52	May 10, 2009 7:45 PM	Be curious when others don't respond as you expect/hope and recognize most everyone is doing the best they can with what they have, so grace and generosity are the most fulfilling attributes to exhibit.
53	May 11, 2009 12:51 AM	I still think attitude is one of the most important lessons -- being in the present tends to make me happiest
54	May 13, 2009 9:24 PM	That dark cloud does have a silver lining. It may take time to see it, but even painful and shocking events can lead to better things, if we look for them. Being a good (fill in the blank) is not the only thing that leads to happiness. Finding something that you enjoy that also gives back, regardless of social/economic/other status is worth it, and brings back a sense of self-worth and satisfaction.
55	May 18, 2009 12:52 AM	Don't take oneself so seriously; make time for friends and family, here and now, rather than always looking backward or forward
56	Jun 1, 2009 2:50 AM	I was lucky to find a partner and have a family-- occurred later in life than I envisioned. Every day is a blessing and a gift.
57	Jun 5, 2009 1:15 AM	Do things that come up even if its not entirely convenient. These opportunities might not come up again and things can change dramatically when you least expect it. Never put off doing something you really want.