Observations...

I've hit a patch of writer's block here lately.  As something to "play with", I've started a list of "Batey's Life Observations".  It's a bit off topic for my blog, but maybe not.  My Facebook friends have received it well.  It didn't seem fair not to share with my devoted readers.

Hope you enjoy.  Feel free to let me know your favorites.

1. Disappointment is the difference between what we expect and what we get, when expectation is greater.  Sufficiently reduced expectations reduce disappointment to a rarity.
2. Assuming that most people will be stupid, unsatisfied, or both will never lead to disappointment.  
3. Common sense is a lie.  Sense has never been common and never will be.
4. Character is best judged by how a person treats those who have nothing to offer in return.
5. The list of things in life that truly "aren't funny" is very short.  Laugh at everything else.
6. A realist is one who hopes the optimist is right, but knows that probability favors the pessimist.
7. Never hate a person based on race.  There are far more interesting and accurate reasons to hate people.
8. Don't profile those who enter your life.  The most important, loyal friends you'll have will be the ones who fit your profile the least.
9. When you find a friend who will suffer inconvenience for your benefit, protect the relationship with great violence. Such folk are life's rarest treasure.
10. Always give crazy some space, otherwise, it'll suck you in.  You won't like the ride or the destination.
11. Never try to "fix someone".  You're not strong enough.  If they're working to better themselves, live life with them.  If not, find someone who is.
12. Insult no one by offering them pity.  Kindness is far more costly and is virtually never offensive.
13. If you come up with something good for another person, do it.  These chances don't come twice.
14. If you offer to do something good for another person, and they reject, or question your motives, it's their problem.  
15. Those who look will find themselves surrounded by people who could use a little kindness injected into their day.
16. Always be kind to old people.  Most of us will eventually be one.
17. The more a person talks about what they do, the less they do what they talk about.
18. Those who look at their life and say they have nothing to be ashamed of generally have the longest list of junk they should be ashamed of.
19. Lies are deadly poison to any relationship.  If you chose to lie to someone, be certain that you're willing to live without them.
20. Never attribute to malice what can plausibly be explained by stupid.
21. Never trust anyone who stands to make money from knowing you.
22. Multi-level marketing schemes make money for very few, if any.  They do, however, turn their members into self-centered assholes with 100% effectiveness.
23. Never ask a person if they're a Vegan.  Give them time.  They'll tell you.
24. Never hate an enemy.  An honest enemy will teach you things a friend can't bear to say.
25. If you don't understand or "just can't connect with" another person, consider it your problem, not theirs.
26. Be careful what you say you are.  If people haven't already noticed it, you'll look like a fool for saying it.
27. It is apathy, not hate that is the opposite of love.
28. Few understand how their cel phone works, but most value theirs.  View people the same way.  They don't have to be fully understood to be valued and appreciated.
29. Never expect others to fix their junk for your benefit.  They won't.  
30. Inside jokes are among the best of life's simple pleasures.
31. Gratitude is the key to happiness.  Entitlement destroys appreciation and makes happiness impossible.
32. You can be honest or popular, not both.
33. Truth can not compete against the lies we tell ourselves.  
34. Anytime someone goes to the trouble of telling you what something isn't, it's a safe bet that's exactly what it is.
35. The only thing riskier than loving and investing in the people around you is failing to do so.
36. Behind every fake smile is a person who thinks you're dumb enough to buy it.
37. Searching for what, rather than who caused a given problem is generally yields far better results.
38. At the end of the day, the vast majority of people will value you for what you can do for them and nothing more.  Those who value you as an individual are rare.   Value them. Love them.  Shower them with all you can afford.  When it all lies on the tarmac in a smoldering heap, they're the ones who'll pull you from the wreckage.
39. Have more than you need?  Make sure those you love have tangible things that remind them of it.  "Pointless giving" is one of life's best blessings for both sides of the equation.
40. Nothing is more liberating than taking a moment to appreciate where we are in life. No thought of goals, what's next, or "what's missing". Gratitude for small, often overlooked things, and for a short list if loyal, imperfect people frees us from our troubles, if only for a moment.