| During my travels, I asked more than 500 | | | | * Build bridges...you never know when you |
| students from across the country the | | | | have to cross one. |
| question, "What are the three most important | | | | |
| lessons that you've learned in life?" Below | | | | * Have faith when you're in the valley of |
| is a compilation of their responses (all | | | | life. |
| duplicate/similar answers were either | | | | |
| combined or eliminated): | | | | * Solve your own problems through the power |
| | | | of God. |
| * Put God first in all you do. | | | | |
| | | | * Knowledge is power. |
| * Be yourself. | | | | |
| | | | * Never pray for something you can't handle. |
| * Do unto others as you would have them do | | | | |
| unto you. | | | | * Respect your parents...your life will be a |
| | | | lot easier. |
| * Love yourself enough to love others. | | | | |
| | | | * Always respect yourself. |
| * Measure your success by how many times you | | | | |
| refuse to give up. | | | | * Do for yourself. |
| | | | |
| * Be thankful and grateful for what God has | | | | * Think before you run (to or from it). |
| given you. | | | | |
| | | | * Build a strong family. |
| * Set long-term and short-term goals for your | | | | |
| life. | | | | * To thy ownself be true. |
| | | | |
| * A lie never dies...so don't give birth to | | | | * Stay in prayer. |
| one. | | | | |
| | | | * Be an example, not an excuse. |
| * If you can't get excited about living, you | | | | |
| might as well be dead. | | | | * It's much cheaper to borrow experience than |
| | | | to buy it (learn from other people's |
| * Follow your heart. | | | | mistakes). |
| | | | |
| * Have faith in your life because you're here | | | | I must admit, it was surprising, as well as |
| for a purpose. | | | | refreshing, to see that students are actually |
| | | | paying attention to what we say and do. |
| * Everything happens for a reason, and | | | | Contrary to popular opinion, our work is not |
| everything will eventually work out. | | | | in vain. |
| | | | |
| * Stand behind your convictions (keep your | | | | As the father, I can't begin to tell you how |
| integrity). | | | | much I appreciated each student's |
| | | | participation in this exercise. These are |
| * The best thing you can leave behind is a | | | | definitely lessons I would like to pass on to |
| good impression. | | | | my son. I'm sure you would agree that we |
| | | | could all enrich our lives tremendously if we |
| * Choose your friends carefully. | | | | just took action on only 25% of the lessons |
| | | | listed on this page. |
| * Value education, not only classroom | | | | |
| instruction, but life lessons as well. | | | | I personally believe that the hardest lesson |
| | | | in life is our failure to master the easy |
| * Love the Lord with all your heart. | | | | ones. When we fail to master the easy ones |
| | | | [lessons], they soon become hard ones. Don't |
| * Speak up for yourself. | | | | you become a victim to the easy lessons. Make |
| | | | sure all of your mistakes are new ones. |