On Pieces of Advice

I first heard the song below when I was in HS. I found it interesting back then and, later in life, I realized it has some of the best pieces of advice you will ever have in this lifetime... Read on, if you know how the song goes, sing! Moreover, if you have the mp3, why don't you share it with me?

Everybody's Free to Wear "Sunscreen"(Baz Luhrman)

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of 99'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 proven 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 fail you. 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 imagined.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never cross your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing!

'Don't be reckless w/ other people's hearts & don't put up w/ people who are reckless w/ yours.'

Floss!

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes your behind. The race is long. And at the end, it's only w/ yourself. Remember compliments, 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 w/ your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do w/ 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 elses.

Enjoy your body, Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or 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 in your own living room. Read the directions even if you don't follow them. Don't 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 the only link to your past and the people most likely to stick w/ you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but w/ 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 w/ your hair. Or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient w/ 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 what it's worth.

But trust me on the "Sunscreen"!