2014: The Year in Review

This is mostly for my personal use in the future, because I can barely remember what happened last week without checking my calendar, and one day I might wonder, "What year did I actually, in fact, lose my mind?" and I can skim through my blogs and hopefully find it. The date, not my mind. That's long gone.

Ten Rules of Maturity

1. Never, ever start a sentence with "No offense, but..."
2. Ask for what you want. Always and without fear! No one can read your mind except God and even He wants you to ask so you can get to know Him! You never know whether you can have something unless you ask. (This includes applying for jobs, requesting training or schedule changes, asking the waiter for a take-home glass because you hate for them to dump out that refill of strawberry lemonade that you really didn't need and requesting a discount on... anything!)
3. Be okay if the answer is "no". It's usually for the best.
4. Be kind to everyone. Especially your spouse.
5. When you have to say no, say no. Don't dither or string people along. Just be clear and kind.
6. Wisdom comes through mistakes. If you aren't making mistakes, you aren't trying hard enough.
7. Allow others to make their own lives-- you actually can't control any other person.
8. Tolerance is not embracing or adopting others' choices. Rather, it's understanding, accepting and defending their right to make them.
9. The most important things in life are relationships. The second great commandment was to love each other. The first was to love God.
10. Live life like you mean it. You aren't the center of the universe, but everything you do matters.