There are many lessons learned through aging. We can shrink from these or seize the opportunity to be our best as we seek our Father’s guidance. Here are the best 34 hard-won lessons learned by getting older divided into four categories of life lessons on:
- Work, Wisdom & Opportunity
- Time
- God and His Love
- Miscellaneous Insights
Life Lessons on Work, Wisdom & Opportunity
- Life is a long haul not a short haul. Unexpected situations will occur. Take your time, keep working, and be patient with yourself and others.
- Stay until you learn the lesson. Otherwise, you’ll just create the same situation over with another opportunity to learn the same lesson.
3. Do the hard work. There’s no guarantee it will pay off, but many times it does and no one can take away your knowledge.
4. The more you know, the more opportunities you’ll have. If you want more opportunities, keep learning. More knowledge also makes you more interesting!
5. Age allows you to appreciate the fruits of your labor in family, work, and community.
6. Wisdom: you don’t get to be older without having learned valuable lessons–either from your own mistakes or by watching others.
Life Lessons on Time
7. Guard against getting absorbed into the tugs, pushes, and pulls of each day. Sometimes getting absorbed is a necessity, many times you have a choice.
8. Time is a taskmaster. It waits for no one.
9. Time is an equalizer. No one gets more.
10. Time is unstoppable, unpausable, unharnessable, and unhoardable. Use it wisely.
11. You can’t do anything about the tick of time, but you can be aware of how you’re spending it. Be intentional.
12. Live from intentionality instead of a harried and hurried whirlwind of chaos. Make a list. Prioritize.
Life Lessons on God and His Love
13. God heals in His timing not ours. Give God time.
14. God’s guidance, love, compassion, assurance, comfort, strength, truth, Trinity, forgiveness, and wisdom are real. Seek God always!
15. Having a deep connection with God is what matters most.
16. Worship God with other believers. Acknowledging the holiness of God with others really matters.
17. Prioritize God above everything–especially the busyness.
18. Forgive others and yourself. Forgiving is critical to maintaining loving relationships and having peace with others as well as yourself.
19. The importance of prayer. Pray about everything!
20. If God doesn’t tell you to take action, then don’t. Wait on God.
21. Live paused, ready to be appreciative and give thanks.
22. Live aware of God’s blessings.
23. Live each day aware, thankful, and acknowledge God’s presence. Each day belongs to Him anyway.
24. Keeping situations in the proper perspective allows for more peace and clear thinking.
25. Sometimes love is tough. Instead of a mushy feeling, it’s a purposeful act of kindness out of obedience to God. Show love, even though you may not be feeling it.
26. Kindness might not always be appreciated in the moment, but if it’s within the boundaries of the relationship, it might be necessary. Tough love is tough!
27. Trust God. God is God. You are not.
28. Trust the Lord to take care of you.
29. The sinful ego often craves recognition, but it’s more important to offer love and encouragement rather than reaching for another helping of attention.
Life Lessons & Miscellaneous Insights
30. Inner Beauty: it’s not a consolation prize! As the outward beauty defined by the world begins to fade, you’ll understand that what matters most is on the inside and the choices you made about it as well as your blessings and what you did with them, again…it’s your choices.
31. Unless you are raising children, you have a sphere of influence, but you do not control the behavior of others. You only control your own behavior and choices.
32. Getting older teaches the importance of giving less criticism and judgement and more grace.
33. Getting older teaches resilience and persistence.
34. Being in community with others makes for a more meaningful, happier life. No one is an island to themselves. Find your people at church and in family, friends, colleagues, and/or interest groups.