Figuring out life isn’t an over night process. Everyone gets drilled with certain lessons in life, whether you want to immediately accept them or not.  Sometimes it takes life to repeatedly demonstrate certain laws of life before you take to them, and other times one powerful experience drives the point home once forever. Here are 30 things I’ve discovered about life, the world, and and us as humans and kindred spirits.

1. You can’t change other people, and it’s rude and not fair to them that you try.

2. It is a hundred times more difficult to burn calories than to refrain from consuming them in the first place.

3. Everyone likes somebody who gets to the point quickly, or at least makes a full hearted attempt to.

4. Bad moods will come and go your whole life, and trying to force them away makes them run deeper and last longer.

5. Children are remarkably honest creatures until we teach them not to be. Everyone starts with a clean slate and is developed by every individual that comes in their path.

6. If everyone in the TV show you’re watching is good-looking, it’s not worth watching. It will just tarnish your perception of the real world and yourself.

7. Yelling always makes things worse.

8. Whenever you’re worried about what others will think of you, you’re really just worried about what you’ll think of you.

9. Every problem you have is your responsibility, regardless of who caused it. Accountability is the means to the end of a problem.

10. If you never doubt your beliefs, then you’re wrong a lot.

11. Managing one’s wants is the most powerful skill a person can learn.

12. Nobody has it all figured out. Don’t always look to others, but rather reach down deep and trust what you know is right.

13. Every passing face on the street represents a story every bit as compelling and complicated as yours. You are never alone.

14. Whenever you hate something, it hates you back: people, situations and inanimate objects alike. Come to terms and accept and appreciate things for the differences they bring to you. Differences and hardships help you grow.

15. People embellish everything, as a rule. Take what you hear with a grain of salt and form your own opinions. Most importantly never knee jerk react to any information that you are taking in.

16. Anger reveals weakness of character, violence even more so.

17. Humans cannot destroy the planet, but we can destroy its capacity to keep us alive.  And we are.

18. When people are uncomfortable with the present moment, they fidget with their hands or their minds.  You can see this in everyone, including yourself.

19. Those who complain the most, accomplish the least.

20. Putting something off makes it instantly harder and scarier.

21. Credit card debt devours souls and your will and desire to push forward. Live within your means or change your means.

22. Most of what we see is only what we think about what we see. We create our reality.

23. A person who is unafraid to present a candid version of themselves to the world is as rarer and more valuable then diamonds.

24. The most common addiction in the world is the addiction to comfort. It wrecks dreams and breaks people.

25. If what you’re doing feels perfectly safe, there is probably a better course of action. Risk is part of growth and success.

26. The greatest innovation in the history of humankind is language. The greatest tragedy of humankind is how many of us lack to truly communicate and resolve issues.

27. There is no correlation between the price of a brand of batteries and how long they last. I just thought I would let you know

28. Breaking new ground only takes a small amount more effort than you’re used to giving.

29. Life is a solo trip, but you’ll have lots of visitors. Some of them are long-term, most aren’t. Appreciate the time that you have with everyone.

30. One of the best things you can do for your kids is take them on road trips. I see this as a parent and I remember it from when I was a kid.

31. The fewer possessions you have, the more they do for you and the more you appreciate them.

32. Killing time is a tragedy. It’s priceless, and it never grows back.