Ten Important Lessons I Didn’t Learn

I turned 65 over the weekend and, in addition to switching to Medicare and catching up with old friends, I also sat back and took inventory of what I’ve learned and what has changed for me in the past 10 years.

This is what I came up with:

1. My faults and weaknesses scare me less. My strengths and abilities impress me less.
2. I seem to have more time to do nothing.
3. Being a late-bloomer entrepreneur/solopreneur requires a lot of discipline, hard work, and courage but boy is it great to be more in control of your destiny.
4. With increased certainty comes increased uncertainty.
5. There are more people out there who want to help me than don’t.
6. The media coverage of US politics has become my favorite form of entertainment.
7. I was never good at suffering fools. Now it’s downright impossible.
8. I no longer use intelligence as a shield. When coupled with a commitment to wisdom and truth it is my greatest weapon.
9. The older I get the more I realize that what you do and what you have are far less important than how you are being.
10. The only responses to judgment and negativity are to fight or to flee. Neither are particularly useful in handling real life.