things i've learned over the years.

1. People will always like you more for being yourself rather than trying to be who you're not.
2. Life is so much more meaningful when you do something adventurous with it.
3. The blue ridge mountains are my home, and truly where people vacation.
4. Few things are more scary than snakes.
5. Nothing compares to laughing with your best friends, especially over nothing.
6. You have to go after what you want for yourself.
7. The biggest sense of accomplishment resides in doing something nice for someone else.
8. Cherish time with your parents and brothers and sisters. That is time you will never get back.
9. My dad's early encouragement to be independent and my mom's constant encouragement to learn from my mistakes have made my life so much more fulfilling.
10. One encounter with the Lord will change your life forever.
11. What people say and what people do don't always match up. Even those with the best of intentions set unrealistic standards.
12. You will fail people and people will fail you. The reality is that it makes you stronger.
13. Successful friendships and relationships require mutual generosity, constant forgiveness, and flexibility always.
14. There is an incredible season of growth after graduating college.
15. People deserve to be forgiven, honored and respected, no matter how they've let you down.
16. Things that you invest in automatically take more effort, but they will always yield more fruit.
17. Never lose the ability to laugh and be joyful!
18. Be so careful about what you say and who you say it to.
19. The time to be blessed is right now. You can have the good in life. You don't have to wait because every day that you wake up breathing is blessing enough to call your life "good".
20. You can never be too thankful. You can never have too much grace. You can never forgive too many times. You can never be too welcoming. You can never display too much honor. You can never give too much respect.
21. Learn to live as if today is the day that something will shift. Be expectant and hopeful always.
22. Love really does persevere through all things.
23. Always respect your parents. You may not agree with them but they gave you life and funded at least half of it.
24. Make sure that you are speaking into people's potential and that you are pouring out seeds that are worthy of growth. Make sure you are speaking well because life is on the line.
25. You are never too important to say thank you. Always be grateful, even of the smallest things.