LOOKING BACK, MOVING AHEAD, AND SEEKING PEACE & JOY
Not long ago I invited the readers of this blog/column to take a few minutes to write a letter to their. 15 year-old self. In the spirit of walking with people who might be seeking. Peace and joy, I wrote such a letter and will share the bulk of it today.
Hey Jim,
I want to start by saying I don’t know how this is possible either, but I’ve been given the. Opportunity to send you a letter from your future self. Is it a miracle? Well it is but it’s only what you learned in 2nd grade to be a minor miracle—you know like finding anything in your locker after the first couple weeks of school. To make. You trust me I’m supposed to tell you something only you might know, but that’s kinda hard since you are a bit introverted so picking something is sort of hard. How about this..your favorite but a little stupid physical activity is riding your bike at top speed around that. Horseshoe corner in Crapo Park, leaning far enough over to almost rub your elbow on the ground so you can keep up enough speed to coast all the way through that little path and all the way to the guns that are poised to attack Illinois if necessary. No, Illinois is not going to attack anytime before the year 2000 so you don’t have to wonder if somewhere in Illinois they have guns pointed at us.
Okay if you don’t believe me that I’m you by now just read the rest anyway. You read other things you don’t believe already just add this to the list.
I tried to keep this short because I know you are busy and you’d rather be listening to music in your spare time. Sorry the Beatles are never going to get back together and John will be assassinated in 1980. It’s a good thing you’ll be able to buy liquor legally by then.
So I’m going to divide this letter into two. Parts...one. Part will be what I want you to do because I know what happens and the other part will be some other bits of wisdom I think you should hear from mebecause they might help you grow up a bit more peacefully.
Things you might think about doing...
Well there’s going to be this movie “Forest Gump” and it’s going to remind you a lot about this time in your life. In the movie Forest’s friend invests some of Mr. Gump’s money in a “fruit company.” It’s a technology company named Apple—invest in it. I know you don’t have a clue about what you want to do for a living, but here are some things to stay away from When someone Tries to convince you to learn html—it’s cool to know before most your friends, but that coolness wears off in about 6 months. Don’t get into careers that include selling or repairing technology. People will buy it at high prices but it won’t last and won’t be worth repairing.
Don’t spend too many hours worried about girls right now. Sure, you will have a crush or two, but you won’t understand women for quite some time—or ever. You’ll have your share of broken hearts soon enough and you might break a heart or two without knowing it or meaning to—again it’s a good thing you’ll be able to buy liquor soon. Speaking of that —just because you can drink more tequila than most people you’ll ever know, don’t spend a good part of your late teens and early 20’s proving it. Keep studying math enough though you won’t be a teacher or an accountant and keep writing every now and then just for fun. Finally try to be less competitive and hold less grudges. Someday when you’re about 45 you’ll learn that holding grudges is like drinking poison and hoping your enemies will die.
Now here are some things I need you to know. First, and most important, thanks for keeping me alive so far. Thanks for already knowing that you can gain more freedom by growing ideas than you can by going to places, having money or things, and ignoring social boundaries. UYou will ignore some of those your whole life by the way. Thanks for knowing that it is important to question answers and answer questions (it won’t gain you any points when you. Write those questions in the margins of your tests in religion class or in American Politics, but it’s one of those skills you picked up somewhere and it still helps me today.
Thanks for. Learning that trying. To be fair is important even if it probably can’t be achieved and for listening when people taught you that whining is not productive. I’ve been reading a long time and have never seen any books titled “Whining Your Way to Happiness” or “Annoying Your Friends and Family by Arguing that You Are Right is the Path to Health and Prosperity.” Thanks. For learning the fine line between sarcasm and really trying to hurt someone with your tongue. You’ll step over the line now and then, but not intentionally and a lot of people will admire the way you use that skill, but not everyone. In short, thanks for growing up okay. You have learned that hard work can pay off at least sometimes. You are afraid of your future a little because you aren’t very. Confident about who you are and because you are a bit of a misfit. You will meet a handful of the most wonderful misfits on the planet and they will be the best friends you could ever ask for...remember that at all times.
Before you even start reading today take a moment to check out some really good holiday bling since were talking about the future here is someone investing time in quality products that will last into yours check it out and then come back to read this http://whal3n.bigcartel.com
Well that’s about it—in some ways Lyon are a typical teen aged kid and won’t believe an old person like me anyway....but you have a great memory (thanks for working on that too) so this stuff will. Make sense to you someday. Try to stay curious, remain a bit philosophically flexible, and to turn out the lights when you leave a room because leaving them on seems to irritate everyone in the Northern Hemisphere.
Oh yes and one last thing... take. Better. Care of my knees and back because when you have your surgery you arten’t going to see the nurse getting ready to trip over the catheter tube and it is really going to hurt if she pulls it out.
Well that’s my letter to my. Younger self... I truly believe thanking your younger self. For getting you through some strange things in life is important and more so than holding on the the mistakes you wish your younger self might have avoided. Seeking peace and joy is truly a strange balancing act between gratitude and attitude change over time. So... if you dare.. find a couple things to be3 thankful. To. Your younger self today and carry those things forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment