IF I COULD OFFER YOU ONLY one tip, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.
You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing.
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts. Don’t put up with people being reckless with yours.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long and, in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.
Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else’s.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.
Dance … even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They’re your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Be careful whose advice you buy. But trust me on the sunscreen.
MARY SCHMICH – CHICAGO TRIBUNE COLUMNIST
IN MEMORY OF …
No-one
ever
built
a
statue
to
a
cynic.
It’s only the doers who get remembered –
not the knockers or the critics.
NEW DOORS
You can’t become
who you want to be
because you’re too
attached to
who you’ve been.
Let go of that old version of you.
Old ways won’t open new doors.
MELISSA OLZARD
LIFE-CHANGING
There are roughly
one hundred and
twenty days
left in
2020.
If you’re making your
goals, keep going.
If you’re struggling,
keep going.
If you’ve just begun,
keep going.
If you start today,
one hundred and
twenty days
will change
your life.
INSIDE …
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us!
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES
After-Covid-Comment:
LIFE-CHANGING!
I find I’m reading more and dusting less. I’m sitting on the deck and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden. I’m spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings.
Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savour, not endure. I’m trying to recognise these moments now and cherish them.
I’m not ‘saving’ anything. We use our good china and crystal for every special event – such as losing a kilo, getting the sink unblocked, the first camellia blossom. I wear my good jacket to the supermarket if I like it. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries without wincing. I’m not saving my good perfume for special parties: shop-assistants and bank-tellers have noses that function as well as my party-going friends.
‘Someday’ and ‘one of these days’ are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it’s worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.
I’m trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and lustre to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that it is special.
Every day, every minute, every breath truly is … a gift from God.
ANN WELLS – LOS ANGELES TIMES
LET IT GO!
Don’t
ruin
a good
today
by
thinking
about
a bad
yesterday.
Let
it
go.
UP AHEAD
May the route be downhill,
the bumps small
and the potholes few.
May there always be a rest-stop when
you need one,
and may the detours take you on
romantic scenic byways.
Never forget:
it’s all about
the journey.
