The wisdom of years
With age comes wisdom. And gray hair...but that is beside the point.
Now, two weeks into my 30's, apparently my wisdom has kicked in and I've started dolling out advice.
Before you start rolling your eyes at me, I didn't start spouting wisdom willy-nilly. Perhaps I should back up.
Last weekend I went to a baby shower for a college friend.
Actually, to back up a bit further, in college I was in a sorority with 100 other women. It was amazing and kind of insane all in one.
I would do it all again in a heart beat, it was a great experience, but living with 100 women doesn't always bring out the best in you. It actually taught me a lot about who I am and who I wanted to be.
The momma-to-be that we were celebrating was a few grades above me so we weren't best friends, and after college we didn't really stay in touch. Through the social-media-miracle that is Facebook, we reconnected in the last few years and recently become closer than we were in college when we lived down the hall from each other.
We have often laughed at how we all were pretty bratty in college, we probably wouldn't be able to tolerate our college-selves now, how we have all mellowed considerably and now we actually have more in common. I think that is part of the age and wisdom combination.
So, fast forward to getting invited to her baby shower. I was super excited to attend but momentarily anxiety-ridden that I would be seeing a group of women who I haven't seen in almost a decade (outside of Facebook, which isn't real life).
When I walked in, I realized that, like me, everyone had gotten older, wiser and kinder. I was so happy to see so many friendly faces and hear about the wonderful things happening in their lives- new jobs, new babies, new homes, successful careers and fun travels.
I'm sure I talked too much (I can't control it sometimes), and probably over-shared (I try to control that, but sometimes I can't stop).
But I left feeling great, and really happy to have gotten to spend an afternoon with such wonderful women.
Outside of the great ladies, the best part of the shower was the advice book.
We all wrote down a piece of advice for the soon-to-be-born baby girl.
Advice ranged from fashion, men, family and confidence. We all commented how we could all use a book of that same advice.
I waited a long time to write on my card. I wanted to say something profound, meaningful and unique. Seems like too much pressure to put on a baby shower advice card, and it was.
In the end, I simply wrote something that I wish I had taken to heart sooner in my life:
Be kind to others. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Being kind never goes out of style and looks good on everyone (along with nude pumps and winter white- to quote someone else's advice).
Kindness is an attribute that I wish I had perfected earlier in my life. Actually, perfected isn't the right word. Clearly I've not perfected it, I work on it all the time. It's an ongoing process and will be for the rest of my life.
I practice kindness. I think that is the age & wisdom combo coming in to play.
Hopefully I can teach my children to be kind above all.
That seems like a pretty good piece of wisdom to impart.
Now, two weeks into my 30's, apparently my wisdom has kicked in and I've started dolling out advice.
Before you start rolling your eyes at me, I didn't start spouting wisdom willy-nilly. Perhaps I should back up.
Last weekend I went to a baby shower for a college friend.
Actually, to back up a bit further, in college I was in a sorority with 100 other women. It was amazing and kind of insane all in one.
I would do it all again in a heart beat, it was a great experience, but living with 100 women doesn't always bring out the best in you. It actually taught me a lot about who I am and who I wanted to be.
The momma-to-be that we were celebrating was a few grades above me so we weren't best friends, and after college we didn't really stay in touch. Through the social-media-miracle that is Facebook, we reconnected in the last few years and recently become closer than we were in college when we lived down the hall from each other.
We have often laughed at how we all were pretty bratty in college, we probably wouldn't be able to tolerate our college-selves now, how we have all mellowed considerably and now we actually have more in common. I think that is part of the age and wisdom combination.
So, fast forward to getting invited to her baby shower. I was super excited to attend but momentarily anxiety-ridden that I would be seeing a group of women who I haven't seen in almost a decade (outside of Facebook, which isn't real life).
When I walked in, I realized that, like me, everyone had gotten older, wiser and kinder. I was so happy to see so many friendly faces and hear about the wonderful things happening in their lives- new jobs, new babies, new homes, successful careers and fun travels.
I'm sure I talked too much (I can't control it sometimes), and probably over-shared (I try to control that, but sometimes I can't stop).
But I left feeling great, and really happy to have gotten to spend an afternoon with such wonderful women.
Outside of the great ladies, the best part of the shower was the advice book.
We all wrote down a piece of advice for the soon-to-be-born baby girl.
Advice ranged from fashion, men, family and confidence. We all commented how we could all use a book of that same advice.
I waited a long time to write on my card. I wanted to say something profound, meaningful and unique. Seems like too much pressure to put on a baby shower advice card, and it was.
In the end, I simply wrote something that I wish I had taken to heart sooner in my life:
Be kind to others. You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
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Kindness is an attribute that I wish I had perfected earlier in my life. Actually, perfected isn't the right word. Clearly I've not perfected it, I work on it all the time. It's an ongoing process and will be for the rest of my life.
I practice kindness. I think that is the age & wisdom combo coming in to play.
Hopefully I can teach my children to be kind above all.
That seems like a pretty good piece of wisdom to impart.
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