45 lessons life taught me

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written."

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.

Animal kingdom's odd couples

Nimra, a 1-year-old cat, plays with chicks in Amman, May 13, 2007. Nimra took care of seven chicks after their mother's death a month before the photo was taken.
(Ali Jarekji/Reuters )

BoonLua, a long-tailed macaque, lives with Toby, a rabbit, in the Ayutthaya province, about 50 miles north of Bangkok. This Sept. 6, 2008, photo shows BoonLua at age 6. BoonLua lost both legs and one arm during a dog attack three years earlier. He dragged himself to a nearby temple where he received medical treatment and survived. He now lives in a custom built enclosure with the rabbit.
(Sukree Sukplang/Reuters )

A wolf and a donkey share a cage in the town of Patok, in northwestern Albania, about 25 miles from the capital city Tirana. This May 9, 2007, photo shows the donkey and wolf together. The donkey initially was meant to be fed to the wolf, which was caught in the northern Albanian mountains. But the animals became attached to each other, cohabitating in the cage and attracting curious villagers and local media.
(Arben Celi/Reuters )

Auan, a 7-year-old female cat, shares a meal with Jeena, a 3-year-old male mouse, at a farmer's house in the central province of Phichit, 281 miles north of Bangkok, Aug. 7, 2002. The animals' owners say Auan found Jeena three years earlier and afterward became his playmate and protector. They said Auan warded off dogs.
(Sukree Sukplang/Reuters )

It was puppy love for a duck and puppy in China. The Chinese family had a pet duck, and when they took in an abandoned pup, the two became fast friends. They play together, they nap together, and they are rarely out of each other's sight.
(WABC)

A farm worker holds a piglet and two of three tiger cubs rejected by their mother at a zoo in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, on Sept. 24. A pig at a farm in eastern Ukraine is nursing the three newborn tigers along with a dozen of its own piglets.
(AP Photo)

Three-month-old tiger cub Zoya, rejected by her mother, plays with Alsatian puppy Frida, who's the same age, in a special enclosure at the Warsaw Zoo Aug. 13, 2008. The dog, owned by a zoo employee, was introduced to the tiger so that she could have a companion for the next few months.

(Alik Keplicz/AP Photo)

Isabella, a yellow lab at the Safari Zoological Park east of Caney, Kan., has adopted three white tiger cubs that were abandoned by their mother in this July 30, 2008, photo.
(Rob Morgan/The Daily Reporter, via AP)

A donkey carrying a lamb in its saddlebag is led by nomads as they head back to their village from summer pastures near the town of Cizre, in southeast Turkey, Oct. 16, 2007.
(Fatih Saribas/Reuters )

Three-month-old Asian camel Ldinka bends over a fence to nuzzle an adult Vietnamese miniature pig at the Royev Ruchey Zoo in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, June 2, 2009.
(Ilya Naymushin/Reuters )

Source : abc news photos

Animal kingdom's odd couples

Ready to be overwhelmed by cuteness? Take a look at some very unusual pairs of animals getting along just fine.

A tiny little macaque nestles against a peaceful pigeon on Neilingding Island, China. The macaque was born on the island, but strayed from its mother. After being taken in by work staff in the protective station, it managed to make a most unusual new friend.

A French bulldog plays with a 2-week-old baby Bengal tiger that was rejected by its mother, at Shirotori zoo in Japan. According to the zoo, the dog has taken on the role as mother, nursing the baby tiger as if it was her own pup.

A mouse is granted a free ride by this frog in the floodwaters of a northern Indian town.

Dema, a 26-day-old male endangered Sumatran tiger cub, cuddles up to 5-month-old female orangutan Irma, at the Taman Safari Indonesia Animal Hospital in West Java, Indonesia. Both Dema and Irma were rejected by their respective mothers.

A piglet plays with a tiger cub at a park in Guangzhou, in south China. The tiger cub was abandoned by its mother and is being raised by a sow.

Source : abc news photos

Fascinating animal photos

These amazing pictures of animals in action are sure to yield a few surprises. Nature’s variety is truly endless.

Purple hat

1. Passing the Purple Hat to You
IN honor of women's history month and in memory of Erma Bombeck who lost her fight with cancer.
Pass this on to five women that you want watched over.
If you don't know five women to pass this on to, one will do just fine.

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck
(written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, 'Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.' There would have been more 'I love you's', More 'I'm sorry's.'

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute.look at it and really see it . . live it and never give it back. STOP SWEATING THE SMALL STUFF!!!

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more , or who's doing what. Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

If you don't mind, send this on to all the women you are grateful to have as friends.

Maybe we should all grab that purple hat earlier.

Please send this to five phenomenal women today in celebration of Beautiful Women's Month.

If you do, something good will happen--you will boost another woman's self-esteem.




2. KEEP IT LIT!

IN MEMORY .. . . . ..

These are the colours that represent the different cancers.

All you are asked to do is keep this circulating, even if it's to one more person, in memory of anyone you know who has been struck by cancer.

A Candle Loses Nothing by Lighting Another Candle.
Please Keep The Candle Going!
This one I do ask that you please send on.
By sending this on, you will think and realise how you'vebeen blessed, up until now.

This is a disease which affects all families... no one is exempt!