We learn as we grow. This is my list of things I know now that I’m older:

1. Everything I thought was a catastrophe in my earlier years was merely a stepping stone.

2. We complain far too often about the basics and when faced with real trauma, we pray to have the basics back.

3. Nothing is ever as awful as we predicted or as grand as we hoped. Most of life falls somewhere in the middle.

4. Kids and seniors are the best barometer to finding a good person. Follow them.

5. If someone judges you, it’s their weakness not yours.

6. Children never become who their parents pray they’ll become. They become who they were always destined to be.

7. Disneyland will rarely be mentioned as a favorite childhood memory. Rug picnics and blanket forts, followed by running in the rain, will.

8. Women make the best and worst friends.

9. Needing and loving are two entirely different things.

10. Dreams keep us afloat in times of struggle.

11. Hope keeps us afloat always.

12. We never forget the little girl picked last for dodge ball; especially if we’re that little girl.

13. Instincts are built-in radar detectors. We ought to follow them more closely.

14. We don’t have to “get over it”. Healing is a lifelong process.

15. Women break in ways invisible to mostly everyone except God.

16. Baby steps turn into miles if we take one everyday.

17. Parents need praise too.

18. For every 10 words we speak, we should listen to 20.

19. Sometimes taking a step backward is really taking a step forward.

20. When women unite, it’s one of the most powerful forces on earth.

21. We often dismiss the voice that matters most; our own.

22. You never know how close someone is to the edge.

23. One kind word is a lifeline that could bring someone down from that edge.

24, If we wait until the timing is right, not one of our dreams would come true.

25. “I’m in your corner” is the best thing to say when you don’t know what to say.

26. Adult children need us as much if not more than when they were little.

27. Grown women have the same issues with body image as their teenage counterparts.

28. Women feel guilty dreaming BIG for themselves especially when they’re Mamas.

29. Behind every great woman is another woman whispering “you’ve got this” in her ear.

30. We’re all broken. If we intersect in the broken places, we meet up with other knowing hearts.

31. The most powerful message we give to one another; “You’re Never Alone.”

Now that I’m older, I’m a little bit wiser.

Lisa Leshaw

Lisa Leshaw is a recently retired therapist who specialized in adolescence and women’s issues. She continues to run empowerment groups for all ages when she’s not trying to write the next great American novel or mucking it up with her hubby and grandchildren. or making some noise on her blog, The Bubelah.