"I Wrote This for You" is a three-part books series project that started in 2007, published under the pen name "pleasefindthis." Its background is interesting, as the books are collections of snippets of writing, each accompanied by a photograph and title. The photographer, Jon Ellis, and the writer, Iain S. Thomas, have never met. Yet, they have been able to create this project.
Although I have only finished one of the three books, I have found that the author has beautifully outlined many life lessons through his writing. In case you have not yet discovered any of Iain S. Thomas' work, I decided to write this, in an attempt to capture some of the project's powerful content. I wrote this for us as we start a new year, in hopes that these 12 lessons can provide guidance to all of us.
We all have bad days.
"You forget that even the strongest person to ever live had the weakest day of their life."
Live in the now and be happy.
"The only time you can really be happy is right now. There is no other moment that exists that is more important than this one."
Life is about the things you do and the people you meet. Experiences far outweigh any material thing.
"Only the things you do have real, lasting value, not the things you get for the things you do. You will, at some point, realize that no trophy loves you as much as you love it, that it cannot pay your bills (even if it increases your salary slightly) and that it won't hold your hand tightly as you say your last words on your deathbed."
As cliched as it may sound, gather the courage to take risks and live life to the fullest.
"I'd rather live with the answer than die with the question."
Appreciate the wonderful gift of sight. See everything you can. Take your eyes off your phone screen for a while.
"No picture of a person ever feels alive until you draw in the eyes. So open your eyes. Let at least one of us feel alive."
Be yourself.
"Never let someone else define you. You are your own creation and only you decide how you feel, who you are and what you want."
People and your memories of people are not synonymous. While your memories may always stay the same, people change.
"We clutch that picture to our hearts because we expect each other to always be the people in that picture. But people change. People aren't pictures, And you can either take a new picture or throw the old one away."
Some people are not worthy of your friendship. Don't waste time on people who only care when it's convenient for them.
"Those who walk away from you in the dark should be forgotten in the light."
Revenge is not a solution. It cannot fully satisfy you.
"Making you regret what you did to me is not 'me winning.' It's everyone still losing."
Realize that what you say and do to people can have a huge impact on others' lives.
"It may have been just a moment to you, but it changed every single one that followed for me."
You are important.
"They might not like you at school. And they might not like you at work. And they might not like you in a park. ... But this universe, will always love you. This universe, will take you."
You are important. You are someone. And you could be anyone.
"Elvis was born again in a small village in Sudan, he died hungry, age 9, never knowing what a guitar was. ... Hemingway, to this day, writes DVD instruction manuals somewhere in China. He's an old man on a factory line. You wouldn't recognize him. Gandhi was born to a wealthy stockbroker in New York. He never forgave the world after his father threw himself from his office window, on the 21st floor. And everyone, somewhere, is someone, if we only give them a chance."
