• You are no longer a kid. You are not a child, and you are not a boy or girl. You are a grown up. Get used to the concept and regard yourself as such.
  • Greatness is always gossiped about. What others say or think about you is really none of your business. Don’t make it your concern
  • Expect what you say to unfailingly come back to you in some form.
  • Your actions are your responsibility.
  • Respect all living things, their ways and their choices. Start with yourself.
  • Don’t cry in public. Especially not at work. You are a professional, lock it down.
  • Unless the iced cream flavor that best defines your soul is vanilla, the best color, taupe, there will be enemies. Choose carefully.
  • Explore. Experiment. Be wild. Just remember, there’s at least one fool in fool around. Try to make it the other guy.
  • Drink more water.
  • ALWAYS keep a sense of humor. It’s only life. No one gets out alive.
  • The best way to ascertain a person’s true character is by how he or she treats the person who can’t possibly help them, doesn’t make them look good, and will never be able to give back.
  • Karma does not exist. Deal with it. If it did, I would have tripped into a puddle of AIDS long ago. As it is, good things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to wonderful people. Don’t concern yourself with retribution or justice, just live. And do it well.
  • Bring good earplugs away to college. It can save the relationship between you and your roommate a lot of strain.
  • Right, wrong or indifferent, your appearance is your first communication to the world, and the strongest factor in 1st impressions. Cope.
  • No one is a ‘good drunk,’ Lots of people are ‘bad drunks.’
  • Need perspective? Volunteer.
  • Drunk dialing is undignified. Don’t learn this the hard way.
  • Never, ever, under any circumstances, or behind any excuses, cheat. If you are not getting what you need from a relationship, end it as soon as possible. You owe it to the other person, and you owe it to yourself.
  • Omission is lying in certain circumstances. Make sure the person you are dating is single. Ignorance is not a defense for being the other woman.
  • When in a relationship, past experiences that have no effect on today do not fall into the omission is lying clause. You don’t have to tell your life story or volunteer information. Go with what feels right.
  • There is no black and white in this world, only shades of gray – and it’s beautiful.
  • Everyone gets jealous. Jealously corrodes character, so identify it, accept it, come to terms, and release it.
  • Just because it hurts doesn’t mean it’s wrong. Growth requires a certain amount of pain.
  • Hold your head high. You come from good stock, and people respond to how you regard yourself. Set the tone right.
  • If there’s any way to let it be in the cards for you, study abroad.
  • If you take on a job, do it and do it well.
  • Everything is a learning experience. The really difficult parts, character building.
  • Mistakes are not necessarily regrets.
  • There isn’t necessarily a guilty party or ‘bad guy’ in a break-up. Try not to take sides.
  • Spending time alone, reading, writing, art, music and exercise heal you. Television does not.
  • Sometimes you can’t save a person. They have to save themselves.
  • The cure for anything is saltwater – sweat, tears or the sea.
  • There’s one in every crowd. Don’t be that guy.
  • I didn’t want to be the one to have to say this, but your mother was right about it all. And if she wasn’t, her heart was in the right place.
  • You get what you settle for. Set standards accordingly.
  • Consider the world a dinner party, and your life a prime cut of steak (or tofu for vegetarians) and ‘cut away the fat.’ The bullshit, the negative people – you don’t need it, cut it out of your life. Surround yourself with who and what you want to be.
  • Visceral verity. Go with your gut. Regardless of this or any other suggestions you are given, your Inner ‘Where the hell do I go from here?’ Compass is just about always right.
dec 15 2013 ∞
feb 8 2015 +