Posts Tagged ‘Regina Brett’

God Never Blinks: Book Giveaway

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
www.hachettebookgroup.com

3 will win! / Photo: www.hachettebookgroup.com

Newspaper columnist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Regina Brett has some important things to say, like:

  • Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
  • If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
  • Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Inspiring stuff, right?

It gets better.

Brett, who in 2006 wrote these and 47 more lessons for the Cleveland Plain Dealer in honor of her 50th birthday, now has a book: God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours. And in this pretty little book, she takes her lessons and turns them into deeply personal essays. It all flows from her reflection on being a single parent, looking for love, working on her relationship with God, battling cancer and making peace with a difficult childhood — you know, the stuff to which we all can relate in our own private ways.

But wait, it’s gettin’ even better.

Three (3!) of you lucky readers are about to score a copy of Brett’s book. Want to be in the running? Keep reading. Oh, and hey, I hope you win, because this is just the kind of book that can help you live a happy and fulfilling life. Believe me, I have a copy right by my side, and I’m soaking up all sorts of wisdom, like this: Breathe. It calms the mind. Yea, I gotta remember that.

  • Leave a comment and share one of your own life lessons!
  • Leave your comment no later than 5PM ET on Wednesday, March 17, 2010.
  • You may enter only once.
  • Open to legal residents of the United States and Canada only, who are 18 and older.
  • One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
  • Three winners will receive one copy of God Never Blinks (valued at $21.99).
  • No P.O. boxes.
  • Winners will be notified by email, so make sure to check next week to find out if you’ve won!

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Posted in Giveaway, Inspiration | 18 Comments »

50 Life Lessons

Saturday, October 17th, 2009
green bow

maiar loves you, Flickr

The following was written in 2006 by columnist Regina Brett for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. Brett says she wrote these 50 life lessons to celebrate growing older. It’s the most requested column she’s ever written, and here it is:

  1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
  2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
  3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
  4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
  5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
  6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
  7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
  8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
  9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
  10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
  11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
  12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
  13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
  14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
  15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
  16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
  17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
  18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
  19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
  20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
  21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
  22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
  23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
  24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
  25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
  26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
  27. Always choose life.
  28. Forgive everyone everything.
  29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
  30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
  31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
  32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.
  33. Believe in miracles.
  34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
  35. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
  36. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
  37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
  38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
  39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
  40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
  41. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
  42. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
  43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
  44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
  45. The best is yet to come.
  46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
  47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
  48. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
  49. Yield.
  50. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

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