The 10 lessons I've learned...
1. Say I love you
If you feel a particular way at any moment, acknowledge it. Share it
with the people you love. If you feel grateful, say, “Thank you,” and if
you feel love, say, “I love you.”
Though people believe when you say it so often, the words lose their meaning, I’ll never get to say it to him again.
What are we all waiting for? Just say it! There is no such thing as the “right time.” The right time could pass you by.
2. Communicate more openly
There were many things left unsaid because it was scary to open up
and talk about feelings, especially those involving death. I knew he was
terrified of dying, but I wish we spoke about it more.
Talking to people and sharing my thoughts and emotions definitely
helped me grieve. It releases a lot of pent-up tension and mental
anxiety. You don’t have to deal with everything on your own. People are
willing to listen.
3. Listen carefully
We should all take the time to listen to one another more often.
Sometimes, emotions are screaming to be heard. Lending an ear to someone
is one of the best ways to be there.
It’s so easy to slip into our unconscious worlds, especially with the
distractions of technology and social media. If you listen enough, you
might hear something that could save a person’s life.
4. Respect one another
Respect is something that is cultivated and nurtured over time. You
can show someone your respect by valuing his or her opinions and
decisions, and treating him or her with fairness and care.
5. Pay attention to the little things
If you blink, you’ll miss them. There were so many moments I took for
granted that came flooding back, long after he was gone. The importance
of being present around the ones you love can never be overstated.
It’s the little moments that count. Savor them.
6. Support each other’s dreams
I always go back to the late nights, when we sat outside in his car
and talked about the dreams we had for our future. He wanted to be this
crazy entrepreneur with his own gym and airline, and I believed he was
crazy enough to do it.
He’d encourage me to start teaching in my garage and planned ways we could draw students into my classroom.
He always found ways to make me better, rather than allow me to believe in my insecurities of not being capable or good enough.
It means the world when the people you love most believe in you and
want to help you achieve your goals. Your dreams may change over time,
but how powerful they felt in that moment will last forever.
7. Take care of your body
We’ve all heard this one: Your body is your temple. We know it, and yet, not all of us treat our bodies with such care.
But, it
reminded me that it’s necessary to stay strong and healthy to live well.
8. Do what you love
It is not worth it to live day-in and day-out doing things that make
you sad and tired. That’s just another way to put your health in
decline.
It’s not advisable to push yourself to the limits when you are not
well enough to do so. When you do what you love, it makes your heart sing. It gives you passion and purpose.
9. Dream big
Life is too short, right? We fear dreams that are bigger than us; we
fear failure without even trying, and we fear success before even
getting there. That’s a lot of fear in which to live.
I miss his fearlessness and his ability to boldly declare something as outrageous as being the next Richard Branson.
10. Love unconditionally
If you’re going to love, don’t just do it in bits and pieces. Love
fully, open your heart up completely and embrace every moment.
Though you run the risk of getting hurt, you’ll never feel the entire beauty of love in its purest form without doing so.
Love as much as you can so you’ll never feel the regret of not having
loved enough.
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