I love to collect people's life lessons and some are better than others.
When the veteran who blogs anonymously at walterreed.blogspot posted his Ten Life Lessons the Army Taught him, he didn't expect them to be so popular that Tim Rick, military correspondent for the Washington Post would reprint them all, but that's how I found them.
1. Always have a notepad, pen, watch, knife, and flashlight on hand.
2. Have a copy of everything. If its important have two copies.
If it has your name on it, then you need a copy. If it affects your health, paycheck, or other element of well-being, then you need two copies. Records get lost, computers crash, and sometimes people just need to see a piece of 80 bond under their noses to get anything done.
3. Make friends wherever you go.
It doesn't matter if you are there for 20 minutes or 20 months, make friends. Inevitably, you will see them again. You will go to where they are. They will go to where you will be. And at the end of the day friends are the only ones covering the front of your position.
4. Make an SOP. Know the SOP. Work the SOP.
Civilian. Military. It doesn't matter. There should be a Standard Operating Procedure for daily life. .... Routine accomplishes this, and we accomplish more when we have a routine.
5. Sleep.
Sleep is one of the things in life we don't appreciate until we aren't getting it.... If it was bad when you went to sleep and its still bad when you wake up, well then I guess you weren't missing anything. If by chance its better when you wake up, then apparently the world doesn't rest upon your shoulders. So take a nap Atlas.
6. Don't go cheap.
7. Find humor everywhere.
8. Don't tolerate oppression.
Stand up for what you think is right. In the end if you were wrong, so be it.
9. Tell your Story.
Battles are not merely lost by the Soldiers on the field, the armament, or the weather. They are one and lost by the lessons learned of prior battles. We learn these lessons because someone told their story.... Older Soldiers told their stories in hopes that a single silver strand of wisdom would be gleamed and be passed on. It is part of what we contribute to society. When one can gleam wisdom from the lessons others have learned we have possible prevented the hardship by which the another person gained that knowledge. And by sharing our lessons we are helping someone else. That is one of our greatest contributions to humanity.
10. Never forget.
Never forget who you are. Never forget what you have done. Never forget where you are. Never forget what it is you want from this one life we have. Never forget the people that stood behind you in support, beside you in camaraderie, or in front of you in adversity. Never forget to write home. Never forget that someone is missing you. Never forget what you have learned. Never forget to share what you have learned. Never forget anything; lest you forget everything.