When I turned 45, I lay in bed reflecting on all life had taught me. My soul sprang a leak and ideas flowed out. My pen simply caught them and set the words on paper. I typed them up and turned them into a newspaper column of the 45 lessons life taught me. When I hit 50, I added five more lessons and the paper ran the column again.

Frame every so-called disaster with these words: In five years, will this matter?

It takes tough love to order kids to step away from the iPhone or iPad during dinner or to take the devices away if they're interrupting and interfering with everyone else's pleasure at a movie, concert or other public event.

Most of life is showing up. You do the best you can, which varies from day to day.

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

There were two kinds of women: those who wear nail polish and those who don't. Which do you prefer?