Wise Words Of Wisdom

Recently, I asked many different women in my life for their best piece of advice. Since all of these women are in different walks of life and have each endured different experiences throughout their time here on earth, I thought that it would be interesting to learn from what each one had to say. Every single piece of advice that was shared with me was so thought-provoking and wise, that I decided to share it with all of you as well! I have kept each piece of advice anonymous and have made minor edits for readability purposes but, otherwise, left their direct quotes the same.

Before I share, I wanted to say thank you to everyone that took part in this and sent me their piece of advice! I appreciate your vulnerability and candor in sharing these with me. I am blessed to get to learn from each one of you.

Without further ado, here are some wise words of wisdom from the women in my life:

• I would have to say my best advice would be to love the Lord with all your heart and to live in total surrender to Him. Also, to live each day to the fullest because the years go by so fast! 

• Life is too short to waste time holding grudges or getting mad. Since you control what you think, then you can control or decide whether to be mad or not, hold a grudge or not. No one makes you mad. You allow it.

• Do the very best you can at everything you do, even when it is something you hate doing because you never know who or what will be influenced even when you think no one is looking. 

• Never put off doing something you want to do, thinking there will be a better time. If possible, go ahead and do it. Tomorrow never comes and regrets can be bitter.

• Never ever tell a lie. Always tell the truth and you will never have to remember what you said.

• Here are just a few -- I have much advice but too many to write and most I’ve forgotten. Just remember, the future looks bright no matter how dismal things can seem. Don’t let your past define who you are and don’t get bogged down in negative thought patterns. Keep growing and learning from your mistakes. This is a widely circulated piece of wisdom that you might have heard before but here it is again: “life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out and shouting, 'Holy smokes..... what a ride!'". When lonely, read the Lord's prayer.

• In thinking about what advice I've been given that I think so vitally important in my life (there has been much), I'd probably have to say advice my Mom gave me and all us girls in growing up. As I've mentioned to you before, she had quite a "cross to bear" concerning my Father and his alcoholism but in spite of it all, she found great joy in raising us girls and our brother. I think of her as having that child-like faith that Jesus tells us is so important to enter the kingdom of heaven. The advice she gave was whenever we were struggling with or confused about anything, she'd say, "Philippians 4:8 it!" which reads "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things". On my recent Instagram post, I used the CJB (Complete Jewish Bible Version) which I love the rendering of. It says "In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy". This advice to me is so good about keeping our focus on what is most important and eternal.

• I think mine would be always trust in God’s plan and timing which is so hard to do at times. For years we wanted a baby, but it never happened. We had given up, but God made it happen and everything went so smoothly. If we had had our daughter earlier, we would not have been in a good place spiritually or emotionally. It was perfect timing! In the meantime, waiting is hard, but it is worth it and it grew my faith tremendously seeing how His way is the best way if you can hang in there and continue to trust.

• I would have to say that God’s word has always been my best advice. Because his word is God-breathed, I realize how important it is to breathe deeply of it, and live it out before Him. The second best advice is to live fully present in each moment. That takes lots and lots of focus and practice and God’s grace. But His grace is sufficient. 

• I’ve been given a lot of solid advice by so many women in my life but one piece of advice that’s stuck with me through the past year or so was told to me by a friend -- “make sure the person you’re becoming is the person you want to be”. It makes you pause and think about who you're surrounding yourself with and what you’re spending your time on and what you’re pursuing and whether or not it’s shaping you into the God-fearing woman you want to be. 

• I mean, I’m only 20, but I’ve dealt with pretty severe depression for 2-3 years. One day I woke up and I was sick of it. I started leaning off my meds and started looking at the world through a new perspective: a less pessimistic and negative light. Things are still hard but I have my plants and dog which bring me joy.

• I would say start a savings account and be very faithful about putting something in it. I started saving my senior year in high school and still do. That account has saved the day many times over the years.

• Don't sweat the small stuff.

• Don't go to bed angry with someone. Don't wait to say something tomorrow when you can say it today.

• Don't date anyone you wouldn't marry.