"I am still learning" is a phrase to always keep in your mind. Difficulties you deal with usually provide learning opportunities. You may have figured out how to solve a problem that you hadn't seen before, or maybe you learned what caused the difficulty in the first place, and now you can prevent it from happening again. Going a little further, if you can learn from other people's difficulties, you are two steps ahead. Learning what they did to solve the problem may help you with the same problem, and if you are lucky, learning what caused their problem in the first place may enable you to avoid it happening to you. I am now well into my eighth decade of life. Some days I think I've seen/solved most of the problems that may yet come up; other days, new problems come as unwanted surprises, so I am still learning too. I thought it was about time to share some of my experiences in the hope that what I've learned will help you. There are few guarantees in life, but with a little planning and forethought, you can often tip the scales in your favor, or you can change the odds a little more to your benefit. As a result, hopefully you will be able to avoid most major problems and minimize the impact caused by the others. The "trip" you are about to take will highlight many experiences from my life, some of which (hopefully) will stay with you, and you will benefit from what I learned without pain to yourself. I've always tried to see the fun parts of everything, whenever the situation permits. I also try to share what I've learned, in appreciation to all those before me that shared with me what they learned. Enjoy the "trip." I hope you will find many sections that you will pass along with your own experiences to benefit others. We all are still learning. 103

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