Have you...?

Day 4,159, 18:53 • Published in Ireland Canada • by Thomas Arashikage





Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and truly saw yourself in your reflection? Do you see what everyone else sees? Do you like what you see? They say that perception isn't everything. If you don't like what you see, do you change it? If you truly look into who you are you will gain knowledge that no one else has. Whether you wish to share it is up to you.




Do you ever gaze up at the stars and wonder where your life is headed? Do you ever think a loved one is staring at the same starry night sky? Do you see hope and the bigger picture? That life is short and like the stars we only exist for a certain amount of time and how bright we shine is up to us. Or do you just sit there and count the stars?





Do you ever glance out over the ocean? Does it calm your nerves? Do you feel at home and at peace there? Is it a tranquility on this earth that exists no where else? Do you walk along the sandy beaches and traipse through the waves letting yourself feel free even for just a moment?



Do you ever feel stubborn when you converse with people? Do you feel like you have to win but you don't know why? Do you feel on the defense for no reason other than your own inadequacies or assumptions about people? Do you get up off the mat, dust yourself off and fight more or do you come to a draw and respect your adversary be they friend or foe?



Does life seem like a wall of bricks that topples on you and weighs you down? Do you ever feel like you're talking to a wall? An insurmountable wall that stifles your every attempt to thwart its defenses? Ever feel immense pressure that you can't seem to escape?



Do you go through life with no stone left unturned? Do you find the rareness in nature or in people, places and things? Do you live in reckless abandon or is your life organized to very fine and intricate detail?

These are just some thoughts. They may apply to you. They may not. I just wanted to get some thoughts out for anyone who wishes to read this. Nothing is entirely intentional, some thoughts are scattered and not well executed but they are thoughts nonetheless. Just a conversation stirrer really. Something different than the normal eRepublik banter.

In addition, below you will read lyrics to a song first heard on the airwaves in 1999. I'll include the video as well. Some of you may not have been born yet. If you weren't and haven't heard it give it a listen and read. After re-reading the lyrics I can say for myself that I should do some of these things more. Some times life comes at you fast. You don't always make the right decisions. But if you learn from mistakes, anything is possible.



Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, 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 trust me, 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 who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

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.

Get plenty of calcium. 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. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. 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.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you’ll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair or by the time you’re 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.