GOLDEN

There is an old saying that goes:  'Too soon old, too late smart.'

That may not be all that meaningful to you if you're say, 21.  But because I'm not 21, that's golden.

I've heard people my age say they wish they could be 21 again.  Really?  Not a chance.  The only way I would ever do it - as if it was actually possible - was if I could know back then what I know now.

Then, maybe.  Just maybe.


-- Being at peace in your spirit is a lot cooler than having outward success
I didn't know that at 21.  I thought career, money in the bank, lots of influence and power were the bomb.  Not so.  Additionally, I haven't arrived at the place I am in life without wounds - some of them deep.  Each would has personally needed the grace of God.  And the reward for giving the hurts to God has been something 'stuff' can't accomplish.  Peace.  It's taken me too long to figure that out.

-- Humility trumps being right
I used to love to argue.  I used to love the fact that I was a 'High D' on the DISC eval.  I used to love the fact that I was always right and I wanted everyone around me to know it too.  If I could, I'd turn the clock back and be right less often.

-- Serve more; be served less.
I obviously didn't come up with that by myself but honestly, I wish I'd been less selfish in my younger years.  I wasted a lot of time trying to be king over this and ruler over that.  Knowing what I know now, I would have carried more bags, opened more doors, gone on more Kingdom Builder trips, lightened more burdens, been third or fourth in line rather than first.

-- Giving is better than getting
Simply put, I just wish I would have learned the beauty and thrill and exhilaration of giving without expecting anything material in return long before I did.

-- Prayer is powerful and prayer is everything.
I had some 21-year old friends in college who had already seemed to have discovered this fact.  It did not penetrate me until much later that talking to God and listening to Him ... works.  Crises as well as smaller dilemmas drive me to my knees so much faster now than they ever did when I was 21. 


I don't want to be the guy who finally gets it after all those years -- the guy who sits up on his deathbed laughing at the joke he remembered four years back because it just dawned on him what it meant.

None of the above things meant a lick to me when I was 21.  I'm glad I learned them all before it was too late, because now they're golden.

Golden.

And be blessed.