What life lesson would you want to pass on to someone?

I found this question on Quora: “What life lesson would you want to pass on to someone?” and thought to myself.. what have I really learned in my life. I ended up writing the following, hope you would find it useful. 

Peace: no matter who you are, where you are from and what your circumstances are, try to be at peace with yourself.

Purpose: try to define a purpose for your life. It could be anything from becoming a Country’s President to the world’s best Janitor. Have something to justify your life to yourself.

Faith: have faith on something be it God or Nature or Planets or Yourself. Have your trust system rooted to something.

Attitude: if there’s one single ingredient that could keep your life afloat in spite of all the odds that the world may throw at you, it’s your ‘attitude’. Always strive to have a good attitude towards everything in life.

Love: leave all your logical sense to your business or the money making aspects of your life and start loving unconditionally. Love your fellow men, family, and friends and treat everyone with respect. If there is something you would feel proud of when you are no more, it will be the number of lives you touch through your kind words, affectionate deeds and unconditional love for them.

Honesty: it is never a policy to be the best but the only way to live a life. Truly successful or in other words contented men never lie or cheat, but are true to themselves and others. So have your moral compass intact.

Friends: choose your friends very wisely, for a part of your character would not be influenced by the people you do not know but by the one’s you choose to spend your time with.

Mistakes: trust me, mistakes are the only way to understand yourself better and to realise that you are ‘doing’ something. Never be afraid of your past, present or future or any of your actions. Every single saint has a past and every single sinner has a future. You made a mistake, acknowledge it, seek forgiveness from yourself and the other party involved, but move on.

Do not worry: about things that are beyond your control. Death, for instance could happen to anyone at any point of time – so is the result of an effort. Your duty is only to make an effort, an effort worth your time but the results are beyond your control. Stop focussing on the results or outcome and throw all your energy in making that effort.

Appreciate: the beauty of nature, words, art, music and often spend some quality time with them and yourself, ALONE.

Learn: always, always be open to learning and adapting, for resilience is an important trait for growth.

Finally, life is neither a war to win nor a game to play against someone or a pursuit of happiness, it’s a beautiful experience – just live it!

PS: And don’t take it too seriously; no one really has got out of it alive 😉

Love,
Nithya Prabu.