What I’ve learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0015

701.  Take responsibility for things that go wrong and give credit for your success to others;

702.  The word blame comes from the words be-lame.  When you blame someone else for your problems, you give the power over your problems to the person you blame.  By being lame, you volunteer yourself to be the victim.  You are the lame victim, and they have more power than you;

703.  There are no victims.  There are only volunteers.  When you blame, you volunteer to be someone else’s victim;

704.  Making people wrong does not make you right, and doing so diminishes your personal power;

705.  When you identify the cause of your situation, you can then find the solution;

706.  Take control of what you say about yourself and what you say to yourself;

707.  The way we breathe can negatively or positively impact our health and our emotions;

708.  Often when we are angry, that means a mistake was made and that a wise and valuable lesson is available for our personal growth;

709.  Once you find the gem of wisdom or learn the lesson in a problem, then it becomes easier to be grateful for your mistakes, and even for the person you were blaming.  Blame can and should be converted to healing and gratitude, an appreciation for the person you are blaming being in your life.  In other words, the person you are upset with may be just a reflection of you, a messenger with a very important message for you;

710.  We have two feet, a right foot and a left foot, not a right foot and a wrong foot.  We as humans make progress by taking one step to the right and then one to the left.  If you stay only on the right foot – being right and making others wrong – you go in circles.  And that is what people do when they hang onto negative thoughts and emotions.  They spend their life making others wrong, making themselves right, and traveling in a circle of bitterness as the rest of the world moves on into the future;

711.  Life is not a straight line.  The quality of one’s life is determined by how you handle each moment, day-by-day.  Life is determined by how we handle our past and present, which determines our future.  Every day we are given a new opportunity to choose how we want to handle our lives.  We have the choice to handle life’s challenges as cowards, heroes, losers or winners.  The next time something good or bad happens to you, know that you have the power to decide how to make your life bad, better or the best.  This is done when you make the choice to not run from your problems, becoming better from and even grateful for the challenges life puts in front of you’

712.  If you want to improve your life, find a teacher, mentor or coach who meets the following two criteria: A teacher who demands more of you than you demand of yourself and a teacher that practices what s/he preaches;

713.  Fear is ignorance in action;

714.  If you’re unhappy with yourself or your situation, remember you need to change first if you want things to change for you;

715.  The cupcakes at Georgetown Cupcake (GeorgetownCupcake.com) are tasty, but they’re not worth $2.75 each;

716.  John Ondrasik (of “Five for Fighting”) is an L.A. Kings fan;

717.  Rum doesn’t go well with hot tea;

718.  DCHappyHours.com is another place to look for Happy Hour specials in the D.C. area;

719.  It’s not a good idea to go to Shamrockfest wearing shorts and sandals (in the rain);

720.  I’m interesting and deserve to be happy;

721.  Pay attention when you’re chopping vegetables (especially when you’re cutting cabbage for corned beef), so you don’t accidentally slice your hand open;

722.  There actually are cute (female) nurses in the Emergency Room (at Inova Alexandria Hospital);

723.  Tetanus shots/vaccinations are good for five years;

724.  If you plan on celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day in (Old Town) Alexandria, go out early to avoid the lines (and maybe the cover charges);

725.  There’s a reason why cookware is labeled dishwasher safe. . . . It's not to protect the dishwasher from the cookware; it’s to protect the cookware (i.e., electric rice cooker bowls) from the dishwasher;

726.  We expect more from people who are important to us. . . . The more important that person is, the more we expect from him/her. . . . We hold our friends to a higher standard than we hold for strangers.  We hold our families to a higher standard than we hold for our friends.  We hold our boy/girlfriends to a higher standard than we hold for our families.  And, ultimately, we hold our husbands/wives to a higher standard than we hold for our boy/girlfriends. . . . But, when we’re hurt by someone, we tend to be more spiteful and vindictive to those persons we care the most about. . . . We seem to punish the people who matter the most to us, while absolving those who mean little or nothing to us. . . . Shouldn’t we be the most compassionate and forgiving to those persons who mean the most to us and not vice versa?

727.  Seldom do we get second chances at something that truly matters to us . . . when we do, we should seize that opportunity and make the most of it;

728.  Chocolate mixes well with a lot of different flavors including chipotle chili;

729.  I’ve witnessed both of David Steckel’s goals (in person) he’s scored at the Verizon Center;

730.  Alexander Ovechkin has scored 100 points in 4 out of his 5 NHL seasons;

731.  A telltale sign that winter is over: When restaurants open the outdoor seating;

732.  Why do deejays in bars sound all alike?

733.  Women can dance on the bar at McFadden’s Restaurant & Saloon;

734.  “Charly” isn’t necessarily a guy’s name either;

735.  You can play Mozart with crystal stemware and water;

736.  Potomac Mills is closed on Easter Sunday;

737.  Freshly ground black pepper goes well with balsamic vinegar;

738.  Washington.org is a pretty good place to look for what to do in D.C.;

739.  It’s not every day when you see a tour bus collide with a Metrobus;

740.  If you order the guacamole (en molcajete) at Rosa Mexicano (RosaMexicano.com), they prepare it fresh for you tableside;

741.  No matter how good it is, no taco is worth $17.00;

742.  Two-year olds have about a one minute attention span;

743.  Playoff hockey (especially in overtime) has an energy, a sense of tension and an air of urgency that’s just not there during the regular season;

744.  Spinach doesn’t wilt as fast when it’s not exposed to air;

745.  I’m not a very good babysitter;

746.  Flair bartending is pretty impressive in person;

747.  They actually make black toilets (and urinals). . . . Who knew?

748.  The (four-plus-mile) walk from Crystal City to (Old Town) Alexandria doesn’t seem so long when you’re drunk;

749.  History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes;

750.  There’s an ice rink in Southeast D.C.: The Fort Dupont Ice Arena (FDIA.org);