| On how the cookie crumbles |
[Jun. 27th, 2009|03:05 am] |
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Have you ever found yourself sitting on your bed, on your floor, at your desk, whatever... and just looked around your room and took in all the stuff you have? From my vantage point right now, sitting on my BED, typing on my LAPTOP... I can see my TV, my DVDS, my collection of SHOES so proudly displayed on the backside of my door, articles of CLOTHING peeking out of my unclosed closet door. This is just the big things, this doesn't include the light thats on next to me, or the clock, the clean water, the telephone, the endless amounts of picture frames, my stack of books on the floor, the pile of clothes at the foot of my bed that I can't fit into my closet nor my dresser. why? why do I have so much stuff? why am I so lucky? Yes, I have a job and I have to work for what I have-- but there are people that work just as hard as me, if not harder and they don't have a fraction of all these unnecessary things. Sometimes I ask myself-- why did God want me to be born in the 20th century, in America, to middle class caucasian parents? I asked myself this a lot over the past year, especially after my whole skin cancer episode (maybe not so much the caucasian parents part, but still). Why was I born in a time when medicine had a cure for what I had? Why was I born in a country that had these technologies and procedures available? If I was born in any other century I most likely would have died from melanoma. That would have been my fate. If I was living in a third world country TODAY, I would probably eventually die from melanoma. I wouldn't have the doctors and the medicine and the surgeries available to me, and if I did I probably wouldn't be able to afford it. Why did I luck out so much? and why do I have all this stuff? How come when people are suffering so much in other parts of the world, or in other parts of this country-- I can talk about it on my computer, as if rubbing it in even more? A part of me just wants to get rid of everything and give it to everybody else... and a part of me feels like I am too small to take on everything I want to change. How do I stop my feeling of want and be satisfied with what I have? How do I distinguish between want and need? unsatisfied and satisfied? We will never be satisfied, so stop wanting. You will always want more. Live simply, so people can simply live. |
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| (no subject) |
[May. 3rd, 2009|09:25 pm] |
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fuck it. I'm so tired of everything. |
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| (no subject) |
[Mar. 29th, 2009|02:08 pm] |
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 idel 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. Mayber 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's else's.
Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Dont' 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.
Taken from: http://internettrash.com/users/chainbreak/schmsp.htm |
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| What I need. |
[Mar. 14th, 2009|09:21 pm] |
Time, patience, fresh air, the warmth of the sun, natural light, the smell of flowers, moving water, sunsets, full moons, the peace of twilight, fresh fruit, good books, the lights of a carousel, the feeling of a ferris wheel, deep breaths, a good laugh, an open mind, a sense of adventure, simplicity, bright stars, cool breezes, to love and feel loved, God.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. |
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| On making a difference. |
[Mar. 2nd, 2009|12:17 am] |
A man vacationing on the coast of Mexico decided to take a midnight stroll along the beach one night. Off in the distance he noticed a boy picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. Every full moon the tide washes starfish up onto the shore and strands them on the beach, in the morning the sun will dry them out and they'll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? What kind of difference can you possibly make?”
The boy looked down at the starfish in his hand and threw it back into the life-giving sea, "I made a difference to that one.” |
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