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I met Alex 10 years ago and one of the main reasons why I fell in love with him was his patience. I don’t think I’ve met anyone as patient as him. Before one of our first dates, he waited over 2 hours for me, in the middle of the 33rd Street train station in Manhattan, during one of busiest weekends (it was a subway series that day). Without any possibility of getting in touch with me (there’s no cell service in the subway), he was in the exact spot he said he would be waiting for me even though I was over 2 hours late. Who does that? No one does that. Not now. Not 10 years ago. I immediately knew he was the guy for me at that moment. Ever since that day, he has continued to teach me so much.

• What’s the hurry? – Alex won’t even speed walk to catch the bus.  According to Alex, “Why? There will be another one. And, if you needed to be somewhere on time, you would’ve made sure you left earlier.” I mean….I can’t argue with that logic. It’s true. So now, I don’t rush. I don’t put myself in danger just so I can arrive in a frantic state, blaming everyone else around me for my tardiness or blaming everyone else around me from keeping me from my oh-so-important vanilla latte. Now, I just enjoy the moment as best as I can.

• When in doubt, walk away – There is no need to start a scene, or an argument. If you think your point is not getting across, or you feel like you’re getting overwhelmed and cannot handle a particular situation, walk away from it. Sometimes the space brings you clarity.

• Don’t wait for a miracle, create one – If you wait for some huge miracle to occur, you’ll be waiting for a long time. Miracles don’t happen. They are created. And anything can be a miracle if you look hard enough.

• Own who you are – Make no excuses. Once you can accept who you are, warts and all, you won’t be in a situation to feel embarrassed, or less than. Own who you are, love yourself. And if you cannot love yourself, then start working on the necessary improvements.

• Keep trying, even if it’s not perfect – You know that saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? The same can be said about perfection. Whatever you’re working on, even if it’s not perfect, that doesn’t mean you give up. It means that you may need to try it a different way. And besides, even if it doesn’t seem perfect to you, that does not mean that the person watching you, reading your work, or seeing your art doesn’t think it was created perfectly for him/her. So keep trying.

• Don’t take yourself too seriously – Why? Because no one else is, so why put that pressure on yourself?  Be truthful and sincere. Let yourself laugh even when you want to cry. Let yourself laugh even when no one else is laughing. But at the end of the day, don’t take yourself too seriously. Life is too short.