K is for... Knowledge

Here are ten things I have learned in my 37 years on the planet…

1.       Friendship is the purest and most valuable form of serendipity. Circumstances may change; time, distance and life may get in your way at times, but someone told me that friendship is a conversation that never ends. When you’re separated from a friend, all you really need is a cup of tea to cross the chasm.
2.       Ginger hair is a blessing and a curse – any outward sign of difference is.
3.       Men have an unshakeable faith in their own allure and fear nothing more than telling you you’re not attractive. Every time you pay a man who isn't your partner and doesn't wish to be a compliment, he’s searching for a way to thank you so that he doesn’t look like a dick whilst also trying to convey the message that you’re not getting him up the aisle – or getting him up yours. You should be nice anyway; one day they might learn and in the meantime it does them no harm to have their heads messed with once in a while.
4.       There is always someone worse off than you – if you’re lucky, it’s someone you never liked that much anyway.
5.       You are stronger than you think you are. I generally have a low opinion of my own courage, yet in my life I’ve got through broken hearts and lost jobs, visited countries where I don’t speak the language alone, saved my Dad’s life twice and endured every dark time to emerge with a plan to make things brighter for the future. If I can do it despite generally being a wimp, you know you can.
6.       A push up bra and some lipstick will get you served quicker in a bar than a smile and good manners.
7.       Being right isn’t always enough. Sometimes there will come a choice between being right and being alone. Only you know what you can live with or what will keep you awake at night. Despite the noise of the outside world, listen only to yourself.
8.       The right man may not be around the corner and you will cry into the night like the world is going to end when this dawns on you. You will wake up again in the morning.
9.       Words and language hold the key to most of the magic in the world; each word you speak or write has an impact, each email you send can have the power to make or ruin someone’s day and each word you read builds towards a richer imagination that will make you happy when you least expect it; like stopped rain on bleak days.
10.   Good guys finish last – but that’s no reason not to be one of the good guys.