One of the best gifts I received this Christmas was an anthology of Esquire magazine's monthly What I've learned column. It's a single page of wise one-liners from actors, inventors, and other interesting people. Even though some of the wisdom is general stuff it might be an interesting exercise in brevity. Focus: Distill a life lesson you've learned this year to one or two sentences.
I'll preface this by saying that I'm an athiest (if such a thing can truly exist), and whole-heartedly against organized religion. That being said, I think every problem in the world can be solved with this philosophy: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
But what if I DON'T want you to tie me up and pull my hair while fucking me hard from behind? A bit more on focus: Cut the bad shit from your life sooner rather than later. Life is not a Hallmark card, and sometimes not everything is destined to work out for the best. If you have a friend or family member that is a cancer in your life, cut them out of your life for the good of your own self. Sometimes you have to be selfish in life, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Nothing is normal unless something is wrong. I've always wanted to put that on a bumper sticker or something. I'm a pessimist. Can you tell?
This piece of advice was posted on the old board. Although I did know this, recently I learned how right the guy was! Your friends and your drinking buddies are not the same thing.
This is going off memory, so the source might be a bit jumbled. "When did saving time and money become the imperative of our lives?" - Jean-Francois Lyotard (The End of Everything) The quote might not be exact, but it's certainly close enough to drive the point home. I ask myself that every time I notice myself doing something I wouldn't normally consider in order to make a few extra bucks, or when I notice myself trying to cram far too much into too short a time-frame.
Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. Nothing is ever as good as it seems. Only one thing is purely true; everything freezes in the end.
These are lessons I have to keep learning over and over: - Do not be terrified into immobility by your fear of how other people will react. Do what you really believe is the right thing, and the chips will fall where they may. - Never assume you know what other people are capable of (good or bad). - You know what happens when you spend all your time worrying about something you can't control? Something else is going to come up behind you and smack your ass.
"Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others." Otto von Bismarck. Since Fly just nabbed it before I could edit, here is another one - "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and shits like a duck, then your sister is a whore." - Someone from the TMMB
If you aren't happy with something then change it. There are ALWAYS options. You are the only one who can keep you in a rut.
Pull it out before you juice it. - sex advice given to a guy I know by his dad. That was the extent of their "sex talk"
Damn straight. Nothing pisses me off more than That Person in the office that always bitches about their job, and yet does nothing about it. Don't like it? Go do something else. Not doing something to change things? Then shut the fuck up, because I sure as Hell don't want to hear about it. Too many people are happy to bitch and moan about their current situation rather than try and do something about changing it. I tent to not like those people, and am not shy about letting them know as much.
"You can only control your own actions & reactions. Worrying/wasting emotions on the actions of others is useless and causes premature wrinkles." (This was a big one for me. I finally got it through my thick skull that other people are always going to act in ways that are abhorrent, distasteful, and detrimental to myself. I can literally COUNT on that. No amount of arguing, worrying, stressing, or any other type of emotional investment will change that fact. Ever. So fuck the stressing out part. I'm going to work doing the best thing possible for me, myself, and I--because all emotions and investments made into that person will certainly pay off.)
Don't sweat the small stuff, but keep half an eye on it; it may become big stuff and bite you in the ass. People are stupid. Especially drunk people. Don't take it personal.
If this were actually "The Golden Rule", a merciful and loving God would of given woodland creatures opposable digits and firearms. Thank God he didn't or I'd be really fucked right now. There'd be raccoons, possums, deer, stray goats, and possibly a bobcat surrounding my house and taking potshots while a turkey vulture circled overhead strafing my house from the .50 cal guns set in his wings.