Sunday, July 12, 2009

Inspiration

( I happened to come across a very soothing article written by a certain Mary Theresa Schmich, in a magazine. Even though it is just a bunch of advice, yet it isn't quite the one that comes from fuddy-duddies. It's cool. There's a certain feel good factor about it. Or that's what I thought after finishing it. In hope that it cheers all of you who stumbled upon this blog just the way it cheered me up, I'm reproducing it top to bottom, in here.)


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 of 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 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 p.m on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday 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 the compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep 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.

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 funny 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 else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't 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 instructions, 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 a few precious ones you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps between 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 it before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave it before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept some inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do so, 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 disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.
- Mary Theresa Schmich

12 comments:

abhishek said...

thanks!!
ur sunscreen does answers lots of questions,its a wonderful read and worth imbibing...
well its juss set me searching a few numbers...

i think it should reach to more ppl, who have missed it, provide a link..
keep posting the gud stuffs!

iYoda said...

"Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's."
C'est Super!!

neelanjana said...

Abhishek,

I don't have a link to this one (although, you can now treat my blog link as one!). I had it in a hard copy magazine, and had to type the whole of it. This article had appeared in the Chicago tribune in the year 1997. See if you can search it up.

Kaushal,

I'd once read something that should logically precede the aforementioned statement. "It's are choices and not our abilities that decide what we become in life."
Also, you should use these french words more often, you know. Nevermind my detours to google translate,they're so exotic! :)

iYoda said...

I know- but I fell in love with the language after I learnt it as a stress buster in the final sem.. :)
And- you read the Chicago Tribune? You rock girl!!

neelanjana said...

Oh! You compliment me undeservedly. All I meant was that this article, once published in the Chicago Tribune,copyright of the same was replicated in a magazine that I was reading recently. Reading e-newspapers are big pain, ditto with e-books :(

abhishek said...

@kaushal...

"It's are choices and not our abilities that decide what we become in life"
“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” rem Albus Dumbledore sayin this...

neelanjana said...

Full respect. :)
There are few who remember this. And most people I know have read the first book least attentively.

iYoda said...

I'm one of those :) Haven't been able to move ahead of the 3rd part though- the sheer volume make me feel jittery :D :D

PI said...

i absolutely loved this article. it was so simple, and sensible. thanks, neelu :)

abhishek said...

@ kaushal
follow wiki summaries..:P

Unknown said...

This is an awesome workpiece and is more than advice.I believe it"s the jest of the art of living a wonderful life!!!!:)

Unknown said...

have you heard the song? Its very nice!