Life Lessons Start When You’re Young

In writing my blog post this week, I thought back many many years to a book I read when I was 14 that literally changed my philosophy of how to live my life. The book, written by Robert Fulgham, was called All I Really Need to Know I Learned In Kindergarten.

Allow me to go through this mantra, and we will see how it is incredibly applicable to life back then, life today, and for the years to come. Share everything Unless you plan on being a hermit sitting alone in an apartment at the age of 50 with your 15 cats, you might want to learn this value. When you share, you bond, and some of those bonds will last a lifetime. If your plans involve marriage or the like, sharing will be one of your most important rules to follow. Put things back where you found them Maintaining order and discipline in your life actually makes you a happier person. I know that for me, if I let the dishes pile up in the sink or the take out containers cover my dining room table, I feel somewhat out of place myself. If you take the time to just put things back where you found them, you can achieve this order and discipline. This also applies to things that you borrow; it is always nice to return these items to their respective owners, even if it is DVDs or library books (see my post from last week!). Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone Intentional or not, our words and actions can hurt people, and at some point everybody will hurt someone else. It is best to nip this in the bud right away, apologize, and hopefully resume a normal, happy relationship. If a happy relationship is not in the future, at least you have the knowledge that you tried to remedy things. Wash your hands before you eat With SARS and swine flu and the endless supply of germs and illnesses, washing your hands before you eat is essential. Without even thinking, we do sometimes touch the food with our hands and if there are germs to be transferred they will get in your mouth and make you sick. It takes like 20 seconds to do, and your health will be your reward. Your date at dinner might also be happy to not see you with dirt under your fingernails. Cookies and milk are good for you This is where I go all philosophical on you. Cookies and milk, while good in their own right, can be applied to so many realms of life. Take a break, smell the roses, do something you enjoy. It is the little things in life that will make you happy, not just the big ones. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together We need to realize that we are all here for each other in one way or another. We do not go through life by ourselves, and we look out after people as they look out for us. Let’s stick together and become successful; there are hidden dangers around every corner. Well, that’s my spiel on this topic. I am sure that there hundreds of more lessons learned in kindergarten that are still applicable in our lives as adults. Have an example? Share it in my comments for others to see! -Jon