- - chorvanescence - -

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.
Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth
until they have 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 bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt
to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that
blindside you at 4pm on some idle 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.

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 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
else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don’t be afraid of
it, or 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 in your own 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 are 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
for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps
in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need
the people you knew 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.