Now that I am officially beyond the half-century mark, I feel credible to speak to at least a few things I have learned along the way. These are life lessons, some I lived and others I just picked up along the way from seeing the times other people had. In all cases, they left a lasting mark with me and that has led me to write them down.
1. Eat vegetables, drink water and try to stay fit: There are any number of reasons, all perfectly reasonable, why life gets the best of people and they gain weight and lose their good health. I am an example about what not to do at this point, though I have been trying to take some of my own medicine and have religiously begun to eat vegetables and drink more water. I suppose part of this is staying away from anything that tastes amazing made of sugar, and this includes soda.
2. Use tobacco and drink if you can do it in moderation: Well, no one ever wanted to grow up and be an alcoholic or die of lung cancer. But, it happens. In fact, alcohol and tobacco are life ruiners and it is best to avoid them entirely. However, all things being equal, if these vices are going to be indulged in, it should only be with great moderation.
3. Get your sleep: Lack of sleep can kill someone when done enough. Maybe worse than that, someone who has not had a good night's rest is libel to make some very bad decisions. Being excessively sleepy is not that dissimilar from being on some narcotic. It is just a better idea to get as much sleep as you need.
4. Exercise in moderation: I over-did exercise as a youth. Because of that, there was a lot less of my body to work with when I got older. If I had to do it over again, I would have kept it to a normal, healthy work out regiment and not tried to push myself beyond what was normal. It doesn't work out on the Back 9 of life.
5. Staying married or staying single: There are some people who were made to be in marriages, whether they are gay or straight. And, there are some people just made to be single. The problems happen in peoples' lives when people who are supposed to be paired up aren't, and when people who aren't are. There is no clearer way to put it.
6. It is good to have hobbies: A person should indulge their creative side, if not for profit and gain, just to regularly use those parts of their personality and psyche. It must be very hard to become adled if one's mind is always at work.
7. In all things, do the best you can where it invovles God. Don't let anyone tell you how to pray, or what to believe, or how to have your own private relationship with your creator. Just do what feels natural and let the religious types bark at the moon.
8. Be kind whenever you can, and that means being kind to yourself too. You count.
9. Do the best you can at work: Work hard but don't give your life to a job. It's a cheap way to spend a life given you for only the small number of years we are given.
10. Be social to the extent you can: There is nothing worse than being an old codger yelling at kids to get off their front lawn. Just don't be that guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment
No profanity, vulgar language, personal attacks, libel or defamation, nudity of any kind or sexual imagery is permitted on this site. The site's management reserves the right to screen all messages for appropriateness through this venue.