If there were just one thing

Life is the most precious thing we know of in the universe.

There is nothing more valuable.

No amount of resources can replace it. It’s priceless. It’s unique.

Whatever happens…

Be here for it.

Remember you’re alive.

Remember how precious every moment is.

Start an adventure. Dance badly. Forgive quickly. Stay up occasionally when you should probably go to bed.

Tell people exactly what they mean to you.

And when something beautiful happens, resist the urge to reach immediately for your phone.

Just stand there.

Look at it.

Remember where you are.

Remember that you are alive.

Time is life.

Don’t waste it on negative thoughts.

Learn to let go of the things that bring you down.

The rude comment. The embarrassing mistake. The argument you didn’t win. The person who doesn’t like you.

Forgive fast. Worry less about looking foolish.

You have only so much attention to spend in one lifetime. Don’t give years of it to things that deserved five minutes.

Do difficult things before they feel impossible.

Tell the truth. End what needs ending. Begin what needs beginning.

Have the conversation you’ve been rehearsing in your head for six months.

Much of a good life comes down to dealing with things while they’re small.

Build a life that doesn’t require constant escape from it.

Work you can respect. People you enjoy coming home to.

Something useful to contribute. Something enjoyable to anticipate.

The goal isn’t to spend your life waiting for weekends and holidays; it’s to make ordinary Wednesday wonderful too.

Don’t make happiness too complicated.

A rested mind. A healthy body. People you can be yourself around. Work worth doing. Enough time to notice the sky. Something that makes you laugh.

People have spent fortunes searching for what often turns out to be a fairly simple arrangement of ordinary things.

If you are fortunate enough to grow old, make sure there is something behind you besides work.

Adventures. Things you made. People you helped. Ridiculous stories that still make you laugh. Moments when you were brave enough to love something completely.

The aim is not merely to reach old age. It is to arrive there carrying a life worth remembering.

Don’t let pride keep a small problem alive. Apologize first when you should. Make the call. Say, “I handled that badly.”

You’ll eventually discover that being right is overrated when compared with being at peace.

Never sacrifice a valuable relationship merely to protect your ego from five uncomfortable minutes.

Don’t mistake confidence for competence. The world contains plenty of people who speak with tremendous certainty about things they barely understand.

Learn to look for evidence, ask good questions and be willing to say, “I don’t know.”

A thoughtful doubt will take you further than a foolish certainty.

Learn to listen without preparing your reply. Most of us aren’t listening; we’re waiting for a gap in which to speak.

Ask another question. Let the silence sit there. Be curious about the answer.

Being deeply listened to is so unusual that giving someone your full attention can feel remarkably like love.

And never assume there will be a better time to love people. Life is good at making ordinary days appear unlimited while counting them down.

Sit with your parents. Play with your children. See your friends. Forgive what can be forgiven.

Say the affectionate thing that feels slightly embarrassing.

In the end, the great tragedy is seldom that we loved people too much; it is that we kept thinking there would be more time to show them.