What I've learned in my old age.

As I get older, I have really been trying to pin down what I actually know vs. what I still need to learn. I'd like to share a couple things that I've learned so far. Here are a handful of truths that I've been able to pick up on in my short and unimpressive 25 year life span.

1. To graduate college, you have to do crap. And I mean... loads of it. For me, the most challenging part of getting a college education was the motivation and determination factor, rather than the actual book-learning. I've always loved learning. I know a lot of things. But knowing things can only get you so far before you need to start doing. Which brings me to another truth:

2.  (Disclaimer: I'm about to say "ass"...) Experience makes you the master of your trade; mere knowledge of it just makes you a smart-ass. Who would you choose as your heart surgeon: a doctor who has performed thousands of successful procedures, but readily admits he doesn't yet fully understand every intricacy of the human heart? Or a doctor who knows every possible bit of information regarding heart surgery, but has never touched a scalpel? I wouldn't let Dr. Bookworm touch my heart with a 10 foot pole.

3. Truth: It is 10 trillion percent worth it to eat healthy food, even though our society has excelled at making the consumption of crappy food easy, inexpensive, and convenient. Maybe you're reading this and you're 18 and you're thinking, "Ya sure. Whatever. I'm going to eat chicken nuggets for breakfast every day and I'm bullet proof and I'm going to live until I'm 130." Trust me, my little children. You will NOT. Go google diverticulitis and then re-commit to eating your veggies.

4. Some people do ridiculous things, and they'll probably never change. This is a truth that I hate, but it's a truth nonetheless. There are people in this world who do things I will never be able to understand, and they'll probably do puzzling, upsetting, harmful things until the day they die. You can either let their behavior get you down, or you can lead a happy life independent of other people's choices, words, and actions. Once you've accepted this fact, navigating your life becomes pretty simple.

5. The older you get, the faster time passes. I feel like my life has been continually picking up speed for as long as I can remember, and every day I'm shocked at how quickly time has passed. When I'm 80, I'm going to wake up and just die of shock (despite my good health) because I'm going to realize that I'm 80 and it's going to freak me out. I wonder how many people die that way.

6. There is a very real difference between a need and a want. I'm still working on mastering that distinction, but I'm trying really hard. It comes with the territory when you're poor. I'd say, learn that distinction as early as you can and try to exercise restraint when it comes to spending time and energy on things you don't really need.

7. I don't care if your IQ is 175 and you have 10 PhDs... you don't know anything about anything compared to the knowledge and wisdom of God. If you think for one second that you know more than Him, you are an imbecile to the nth degree.

Those 7 things are basically all the wisdom I can muster, but I personally think they're pretty good as far as wisdomy treasures go. 7 wisdomy treasures for you, and none for Gretchen Weiners, BYE!