Today is my birthday. I don’t tell you this lightly. As a matter of fact, last year I didn’t even mention it because last year I turned the big FIVE-O. I’m embarrassed to admit it now, but I was so devastated and in such denial over that silly number that I refused to acknowledge it in any public way. But now that I’ve had a year to let the reality settle in, I see I did myself a disservice by allowing such a significant life milestone pass by without paying some sort of homage to it.
So here I am, a year later, ready to do what I should have done last year…reflect on turning fifty (plus 1) by sharing some of what that considerable span of time has taught me.
I share this as a birthday present to myself today….but my hope is that each of you will find at least one nugget of truth that resonates with you and causes you to reflect as well.
51 Reflections On Turning 50 + 1
I’ll start with one of my very favorite quotes:
1. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ~~Eleanor Roosevelt
2. Time and experience heals pain. Even if you are going through an overwhelmingly painful event in your life right now….one day it will be part of your past and not nearly as significant as it seems.
3. Keep moving. We must keep putting one foot in front of the other even when we hurt. If we don’t, we will never know what is waiting for us just around the bend.
4. Be the first to say you’re sorry.
5. Kindness matters. A lot. Being kind is more important than being right. Wherever there is a human being, there’s an opportunity for kindness.
6. Mother was right….everything seems worse at night. Our isolation and insignificance seem so much greater when everyone else is asleep. Try to rest and take comfort in the approaching sunrise.
7. Find ways of doing service. It’s some of the most rewarding experiences you will ever have. You come to love those you serve.
8. For better, or for worse….means just that. Probably the five words most taken for granted in the English language.
9. Forgiving yourself is FAR harder than forgiving someone else. And, I believe, it’s never complete.
10. When the chips are down (I mean REALLY down)…family is who will come through.
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11. Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
12. Comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
13. “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.” ~~Eleanor Roosevelt
14. Stop worrying…and start living! 99% of what we worry about WON’T EVER HAPPEN!
15. Choose happiness. Walk cheerfully on the face of the earth.
16. Let go of resentment. Holding a grudge is letting someone live rent-free in your head. KICK THEM OUT!
17. You don’t need everyone to like you. If the people closest to you love you, the ones who don’t, don’t matter.
18. Addiction is no respecter of persons. It will seek to destroy anyone who gets caught in its web.
19. Life is all about expectations. Stop expecting impossible perfection, in yourself and others.
20. NO ONE gets through this life without some trial. Everyone is fighting a battle of some kind.
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21. Goal-setting is overrated. Problem solving is underrated.
22. Debt ruins lives. Try to avoid it all cost.
23. Never send an email when you’re mad. If you want to write an angry e-mail, do it. Just don’t send it.
24. You can’t change people. You either have to accept people for who they are or not at all. There is very little gray area here.
25. Learn to embrace Change, even when it arrives with its companions, Fear and Uncertainty.
26. Giving is better than getting. If you continually give, you will continually have.
27. Gratitude is the best way to find contentment. Personally I don’t think there is any way to find contentment without gratitude. It takes our focus off what we don’t have and onto what we do have.
28. Learn the art of empathy and practice it. Never underestimate the power of a smile, a kind word, or a listening ear.
29. On being a parent….stay out of the way of your kids becoming the amazing people they are. It’s more harmful to overparent than to underparent.
30. Everyone yearns for validation, love, security, enjoyment and a better future.
31. Live in the now. Don’t let yesterday use up today.
32. Live by example. Personal example carries much more weight than preaching.
33. You can’t buy happiness. Everything that is wonderful about life doesn’t cost a penny. A long walk, a hug, spending time with a good friend are all free.
34. You can’t please everyone! If you share something with enough people, you will upset someone, no matter what. That’s their problem, not yours.
35. Mistakes are how we learn. Failures are the stepping stones to success.
36. Wear sunscreen.
37. No matter how lonely you might feel, there is always someone who can relate to you. Perhaps you can’t talk to them right now, but they are out there.
38. Flowers and gardening are medicine for the soul.
39. Passionate love is overrated. Seek a mate whose values and background echo your own.
40. Relationships are messy because life is challenging. A conflict doesn’t mean the relationship has to come to an end.
41. No one is in charge of your happiness except you. Not your parents, not your spouse. You.
42. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay close.
43. However bad a situation is, you will get through it, one way or another.
44. Trust your gut instinct. It will be right 99% of the time.
45. Sometimes all you can do is B R E A T H E.
46. Failures are only lessons. So never regret anything that has happened in your life. Take it all as lessons learned and move on with grace.
47. The best is yet to come.
48. Experience is the greatest teacher of all.
49. This wise prayer….”God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
50. Find your passion. Discovering something you love to do has an amazing effect on your entire life.
51. I have a lot left to learn. Life still has many lessons left to teach me, and I’m looking forward to them all.
I want to thank each of you for being here to celebrate with me today….and every day! The community that this website represents truly is one of my proudest accomplishments, and one that wouldn’t exist without all of you incredible people!
Do you have a saying that resonates with you?
I will turn 50 this year and am not looking forward to it, but I’m going to print your list and look at it often, maybe when the day comes around I’ll feel diferently
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday!! Love the list of wise thoughts!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee! I’m about to hit the big 6-0 and I’m looking forward to it. My sister died right before her 60th birthday, my brother died at 25. I’m just happy to still be here!
Embrace every day for the gift that it is. You are a gift yourself, to the many, many people who enjoy all that you share and all that you do to make our lives an adventure. God bless you always!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy birthday to YOU. Thank you for all that you have taught me, you really have changed my life for the better
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee
Please log in or create a free account to comment.It is my prayer that you have a wonderful day,and thanks so much for sharing the great reasons to be grateful for where we are in our life right now.
Blessings,Jocelan
I figure 50 means halfway done. LOL, but you know, we are living longer and longer no reason not to plan for a 50 year future.
I will be 57 in a couple months, at 52 I graduated with a Masters degree I had always wanted. I love getting old enough to find myself comfortable in my skin and much less dependent on other peoples opinions of me.
Be Blessed, enjoy your birthday and plan for the next half of your life!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee…
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Here’s wishing you a beautiful day!
Gorgeous Grannies Unite…..lol
Happy Birthday, Jillee!! I hope you are having an amazing day!!! Love. love, love your blog and am looking forward to many, many, more years of your wonderful ideas!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday!!! I love your list! It is so right – thank you for sharing the wisdom of your years *chuckle* with us. I need to share this list with my daughters!! So many of your “nuggets” bring back memories of my mother!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday! I just turned 56 and I don’t care who knows it because I’m proud to have lived this long since there are so many who never see it…
Thank you for the words of wisdom. They came at a perfect time because I am worrying too much. I forget what my mother once told me, “Why worry about things you CAN change, or worry about things you CAN’T”.
Hope you have many, many more celebrations of LIFE!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I’m afraid I disagree with 29. Most kids who end up in trouble as seriously under parented. And I think you mean debt not debit. But many of those are so true. Especially about contentment and gratitude
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee! Thank you for sharing your inspirational thoughts. Your blog is wonderful gift that you share with all of us daily. Many blessings I wish for you this year. Just wait till you get to your sixties like my husband and I. Still enjoying our life and blessings. (There is just something emotionally traumatic about the 50th year but it passes quickly!)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jillee, I can’t believe we share the same birthday! I turned 48 on the 19th. Happy belated b-day!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.#14 is one of my all time favorites: Stop worrying and start living (that is the actual title of the book by Dale Carnegie)… 99% of the things we worry about will never happen. I read that for the first time 25 years ago, and that revelation was LIFE CHANGING for me. It is SO true!
A very blessed birthday to you! I have cut way back on the number of blogs I follow, but yours is a keeper!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday big sister! Love you and so proud of you. You are amazing!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
Please log in or create a free account to comment.― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Happy Birthday Jillee Bean! Ha, I remember your school council slogan but I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning!
I turn 50 this summer and I’m not looking forward to it, at all. Thanks for the timely posting, reading this list helped me to remember that I can’t do anything about aging, so I might as well embrace it and continue making the changes I need to make to create the life I want now. You look great, Jill, that counts for a LOT.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee Bean! Ha! I just remembered your school council election slogan, and I can’t remember what I had for breakfast this morning.
I turn 50 this summer and I am dreading it. Reading this helped me to remember that there is nothing I can do about getting older, I need to embrace it, and continue to make the changes I need to make to create the life I want now. Thanks for the timely message!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday to a wonderful woman!!! I have saved money and time with your wisdom. May your day be filled with joy.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I will be 51 this year as well! Happy Birthday. What a wonderful list! I shall print it out and read it with my kids. Lessons for everyone!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday! Love your blog ..turned my sister on to you too. I will be 62 this yr and looking forward to getting My social security. See there are benefits.to getting older…enjoy your day!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday, Jillee! You brighten all my days as I wait for your next post. So I hope today is extra-special for you!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday, Jillee! When I turned 50 a friend sent me a card and pointed out that this was my Jubilee Year (Leviticus 25 starting in verse 8 is one place in the Bible). That made me feel really good knowing that was a fresh start for me. One thing I like is all the knowledge and experience I’ve gained that can only come with time. Happy Jillee’s Jubilee!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.ps Thank you so much for your important work.
Happy Birthday! Oh, to be 51 again!! No, not really. I remember a couple years ago when I turned 60 I couldn’t believe it but it’s just a number. Have a great day and love this post. Looking forward to many, many more posts.
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