Everybody's
Free (To Wear Sunscreen)
Ladies and gentlemen
of the class of '99(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 blind side 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 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 know.
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 other
people think of it. It's the greatest instrument
you'll ever own.
Dance, even if
you have nowhere to do it but in 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 like 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 that it's worth.
But trust me on
the sunscreen.
|
start
page | main
page | view
guestbook | sign
guestbook | favourite
poems |
lyrics | thoughts
and a lil bout everything| sailormoon
| winnie
the pooh | precious
moments | movies
and drew | nutling's
page I: the other side | doggies
and cows | midis:
page one | midis:
page two | quotations:
I | quotations:
II | quotations
III | cliques
| add
your link | message
board | link
me | bits
and pieces of cool stuff off the www | faqs
| get
to know me survey | earliest
childhood memories |