Rascal Flatt’s, the country music trio sings a song titled, Life is a Highway. I agree. It makes a wonderful metaphor for life. The old adage is to not look back because you’re not going that way. While the sentiment is an attempt to inspire us to keep moving forward, I tend to disagree. I believe looking back helps to see how far I’ve come. In celebration of my 50th birthday, I find it helpful to look back.

50 Thoughts for my 50th birthday:

1. Be authentic and real. People can relate to you. Be your imperfect self, people want that.
2. Be kind to others and while you’re at it be kind to yourself. That’s how we change the world.
3. Therapy is a type of self-care and love, there’s no reason to be ashamed. Should be as natural as going to the regular doctor.
4. Travel, far and wide and often It gets rid of ignorance.
5. Do something that scares you. Sometimes you have to do something when you’re scared.
6. Don’t fall for fads, trends, etc.-it makes you like everyone else and that defeats the purpose of life.
7. Eat the cake, eat the bacon. I don’t trust anyone that doesn’t.
8. Do something you love. It can be a hobby or a job but find something that brings you joy.
9. Believe in a higher power.
10. Friendship is like pie and there is only so much pie so choose your friends wisely. Thanks Emily!
11. Live the obituary you want written about you someday.
12. Collect friends of all shapes, sizes, colors, cultures, ethnicities….you get the drift.
13. Don’t try to be strong all the time. It’s okay to fall apart. It’s okay to not be okay.
14. Laugh and make others laugh.
15. Visit the elderly, they have a lot to offer, and you can learn so much from them.
16. Go outside. Be with nature and in nature.
17. Take all the pictures. You’ll never regret having too many pictures.
18. Be the first to smile at a stranger in the grocery store aisle.
19. Compliment strangers. Compliment their colored hair, their tattoos, whatever makes them unique.
20. Speak up against wrongdoing. Let others know what you’re for. Be pro love, and pro human.
21. Make your bed every day or marry someone who does.
22. Laugh at yourself before others have a chance to make fun of you.
23. Be vulnerable. Don’t be afraid to make a fool of yourself.
24. Savor the moments.
25. Worry less about what others think. Don’t listen to the opinions of people you don’t respect or wouldn’t ask for their advice.
26. Do not compare your life with others. God created this life with you in mind.
27. Be grateful for the problems you don’t have.
28. Hang out with people who are smarter and wiser than you. If you’re the smartest one in the room, you’re in the wrong room.
29. Always bet on yourself. 
30. Apologize especially to your kids. You’re human not perfect.
31. Sometimes you’re wrong.
32. Be like a tree, rooted but flexible.
33. Leave people better than you found them.
34. Be brave enough to suck at something until you get better.
35. Be a Fountain, not a drain (Rex Hudler)
36. Be a thermostat, not a thermometer (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
37. Make everyone feel like they are the most important person. Thank you, Mary!
38. Be who you needed when you were younger.
39. Mentor others. Share what you have learned.
40. Don’t dig up in doubt, what you planted in faith (Elisabeth Elliot)
41. Don’t die before you’re dead. (Tennessee John Hurt)
42. Don’t own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire. (Wendell Berry)
43. Don’t finish a bad book.
44. Sometimes it’s not about you. Remember this when someone is mad or acts out in anger toward you.
45. Celebrate yourself. Be brave and go to a restaurant alone or a movie theater by yourself. 
46. You will never miss what’s meant for you.
47. If not you than who?
48. Everyone should have a porch to watch sunrises and the sunsets and watch the world go by.
49. Music is life. Listen when you’re happy, when you’re sad, alone, scared, joyful, jubilant……..
50. Don’t be sad about birthdays. It’s a privilege not afforded to everyone. Besides, you’ve been through a lot, and it shows, and you should be proud of how far you’ve come and what you’ve endured.

I hope when you look back down the road of your life, you see how far you’ve come. There were hard times but you’re still here. And as you look ahead down the road do so with hope. I could write fifty other things, but I’ll save that for when I’m 100. Thank you for always reading and thank you for helping me celebrate my birthday!