10 Life Lessons Everyone Should Know

The world is filled with information.  No matter which direction you look, there is information all around you available for you to absorb.  School, books, television, work, the internet, etc… We are surrounded by all types of information.

From the time we are young, we are taught the importance of consuming and learning as much of this information as possible.  It starts from an early age and continues throughout the span of our lifetime.  A large amount of our time is dedicated to being exposed to and learning as much information as we can. We are expected to learn information in order to live successfully and accomplish things in the world … to educate ourselves, gain a degree, do well in our jobs and career, etc.  The list goes on and on.

And, while absorbing information is by no means a bad thing, our lives should not just be about learning and retaining information.  We need to understand the alternaview.

Learning Life Lessons for Personal Growth: The alternaview

While it is definitely a good thing to learn and absorb the information we are expected to, we should never overlook the importance of identifying and understanding universal truths.

Although it is good to understand geometry and physics, to understand the science behind gravity and to have a strong command of language and grammar … universal truths about life are actually more important than any of the information we will ever learn. As a result, a large part of our focus should be devoted to living and learning those life lessons that are timeless that can significantly impact just about anything we do.

We must make certain that a large part of our attention is focused on learning these truths. In order to learn these life lessons we have to live and experience those things that life offers us.  We have to manage through challenges and issues, taste success, understand defeat, and take notes along the way of the universal truths that can be distilled from such experiences.

And, while really understanding and learning these truths requires much more than just reading and studying them,  sometimes by seeing them we are reminded of experiences and life lessons we may have overlooked.

While these are by all means not all the universal truths that exist, here are 10 really important life lessons that I have discovered:

10 Life Lessons and Universal Truths

1. “The more you give, the more you receive” is a universal truth that applies to way more than charitable giving.  It literally applies to everything.  It has been described as the boomerang effect and that term is very fitting because you literally get back everything you put out there.  It doesn’t matter if it is kindness, generosity, love, anger, frustration, money, etc.  It all comes right back to you.

2. Life always puts in front of you exactly what you need at that precise moment in time. Whether it is good or bad or tastes sweet or sour, life gives you exactly what you need, even if you may prefer to have something else.

3. If you really believe that everything happens for a reason and buy into that truth, there is nothing you will not be able to manage through.

4. If at first you don’t succeed, there is a reason why and until you figure out that reason, you will not succeed.

5. If you struggle with a situation, but never learn the underlying lesson, it will come back to you again and again until you learn it … even though it may come in a different size box with a different color ribbon.

6. There is nothing better than figuring out your purpose and living aligned with it.

7. We have the ability to create and shape our own future. We just have to realize that is the case and then choose to do something about it.

8. If you think your life is just okay, then you still have more to learn about how you really should be living and experiencing life.

9. When you first set out to accomplish something big, at first it will be all about successfully accomplishing your desire. However, as you get closer and closer to accomplishing it and when you are finally successful, the destination and your success will not seem nearly as important as it did in the beginning.  What will really matter is what you have learned along the way and how you have grown.

10.  Things can seem to be a certain way and when we look at them on their surface, we will only understand a certain aspect. However, if we push ourselves to look at what seemed obvious and choose to look at it differently, we will see alternaviews.  We will see life lessons in everything around us that apply to who we are and who we want to be become.  We will look at things in a different way and see answers we initially overlooked.  We will see that everything has the ability to be an alternaview and point us in the direction of our own truth. We just have to look.

… that is the alternaview.

Do you have any universal truths to add to the list?  Do you agree with this alternaview?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section.