12 LESSONS IN LIFE

To LAUGH is to risk appearing a fool;
To WEEP is to risk appearing sentimental;
To REACH OUT for another is to risk involvement;
To EXPOSE feelings is to risk rejection;
To place your DREAMS before the crowd is to risk ridicule.
To LOVE is to risk not being loved in return.

1. BUT...The person who risks NOTHING, has NOTHING,
does NOTHING - and is NOTHING.
Only a person who risks is truly ALIVE and FREE.

2. Never make someone your PRIORITY when to them you're only an option...

3. Never allow yourself to be someone's something when you can be someone else's EVERYTHING!!

4. When you make your mark, you will always attract some envy. Those who envy you will see your glory without knowing your story. But if the grass looks greener on your side of the fence, you can rest assured that the water bill is much higher too!!

5. KNOW YOUR PURPOSE. Purpose does not mean having a job. You can have a job and still be unfulfilled. A purpose is having a clear sense of who you are, not what you do. Above all, your purpose is not defined by what others think of you, but what you think of yourself.

6. A PESSIMIST sees the difficulty in every opportunity;
an OPTIMIST sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

7. The best things in life can never be kept. They must be given away:
A SMILE, a HUG, a KISS and LOVE.

8. LOVE DOES NOT THRIVE IN NEGATIVITY. It has understanding, compassion and empathy at its core. If you live in a culture where the men address the women as 'hoes', 'bitches' and other derogatory terms, just remember a key important thing: RESPECT does not come out of negativity either. It comes out of self-love. People who use those terms to describe their womenfolk are demonstrating their own level of low self-esteem, lack of respect for themself and disregard for their female relatives. With little self-respect, they are unable to love anyone else and will put others down to make themselves feel valued.

9. Don't be limited by other people's limitations.

10. Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.

11. Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Choose your words, for they become actions.
Understand your actions, for they become habits.
Study your habits, for they will become your character.
Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny.

AND FINALLY

12. We do not overcome evil by becoming evil ourselves! In that awful moment of madness we lose our self-respect and our integrity, falling from the moral high ground of justice to land with a thud on the same low level of injustice perpetrated by our oppressors.