Everything Beautiful in Its Time: Seasons of Love and Loss—A Heartwarming Tribute to Family and Wisdom

by Jenna Bush Hager

Don’t get down when your life takes a bad turn. Don’t blame others for your setbacks. When things go well, always give credit to others. Don’t talk all the time. Listen to your friends and mentors and learn from them. Don’t brag about yourself. Let others point out your virtues, your strong points. Give someone a hand. When a friend is hurting, show that friend you care. Nobody likes an overbearing big shot. As you succeed, be kind to people. Thank those who help you along the way. Don’t be afraid to shed a tear when your heart is broken or because a friend is hurting.

Don’t be intimidated by people who have a better education or more money. Kindness is more valuable than any fortune. Smile at every baby you see. Regardless of what you do, be proud of working hard to take care of your family. Read widely. If anyone spills something, yell “Happy days!” It reminds everyone not to sweat the small stuff. Get out of bed to go look at the stars—and always, always wish upon the first star you

When people ask me how I balance work and small children, I say, “It’s simple. I don’t.” I’ve been blessed with a lot of wonderful things at once. I don’t want to give anything up, so I keep everything going the best I can.

“I used to seek broad horizons in life and found plenty. Now I don’t care if I can’t even see Ogunquit. Limited horizons are okay by me just so long as family’s in view.”

For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.

“For several years you’ve had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work, and, of course, that’s true. But as important as your obligations as a doctor, lawyer or business leader will be, you are a human being first, and those human connections with spouses—with children, with friends—are the most important investments you will ever make.

“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a friend or a parent.

“It isn’t courageous to do the right thing.”

You shouldn’t get special credit for doing what you should do in the first place.

if a ninety-year-old woman with strong views on everything could have an open dialogue on a touchy subject, we have no excuse for not keeping our minds open, too.

And as Dad says, when your parents die, it reminds you that you’re next.”

“What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”