Words to live by

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99:
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 nevermind; 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’re 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 4 pm 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 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…what ever 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 the 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 and 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 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…

Everbody's free to feel good

-The Sunscreen Song by Baz Luhrmann

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xavFb4WH7o0&feature=related

What's on your list?

I am taking this news writing class in summer school where we are being taught how to write different types of stories. Well, recently we have been writing a lot of obituaries. It is kind of morbid I know, but it really was not that weird until we had to write our own

...and I had nothing to write.

I have done some incredible things in my life: I have lived all over the U.S. and in Spain and traveled to various other countries; I have learned another language (although my grammar is not that great, but it's not great in English either); I have competed in and won many athletic events; I have jumped off, repelled down and climbed up cliffs; I have surfed, skied, snowboarded, wake boarded; I have maintained a high GPA at two of the top universities in the country....but none are quite the stuff of legend.

In a previous class assignment, we were given the 20 page resume, which is the shortened version, of our accomplished professor and were asked to write his obituary and include some of his most important accomplishments. When I first looked at the 20 pages of awards, titles and accomplishments of my professor I was extremely overwhelmed. How can anyone compare to that? Now, I realize that I am about a third of the man's age, but it is daunting to look at what I must one day measure up to.

I have recently finished Michael J. Fox's new book, Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist. It is such an incredible book. Michael J. Fox is not only a gifted actor but an incredible husband, father, activist, optimist. He is not only an inspiration for all suffering from any life-altering event/disease, but he is an inspiration for any one who wants to make a positive difference in the world.

In his book, he wrote, "if ten years ago, as I set upon this second-act odyssey [meaning his career in activism, politics and parenthood, after he left his acting career in 2000], I had compiled a list of everything I'd hope to accomplish to this point, I would discover that I had sold myself short" (page. 263).

What a bold statement. To say that the lofty goals you set for yourself were not quite high enough. I hope I can say that I did not dream big enough.

As you can probably guess from prior blog posts, I get a lot of ideas from movies and television. Well, A Walk to Remember is one of the movies I have gotten plenty of ideas from. I carry around a journal to write down quotes that catch my attention or share a bit of wisdom, so that I might one day be able to give it to my children and they might too find them enlightening. Also, I think the notion of writing down a list of goals is a great idea. Some of mine are as lofty as traveling to every continent or writing a book, and some are more domestic, but equally challenging, like getting married and having children.

So my challenge is: take some time to self-evaluate. Have you accomplished any of your goals yet? Have you made this world a better place? Now look to the future and DREAM BIG!! Hopefully, we will accomplish all that we hope to with little regrets. Lets get started!

Slaying Dragons!

The new Bachelorette, Jillian Harris has a dating maxim, "You have to slay a few dragons to find Prince Charming."

As I watched the season premiere, I was very impressed by the variety of good-looking, accomplished, and adventurous dragons Jillian would have to slay this season, hopefully resulting in her Prince Charming. And from the preview of the season, it looks to be a very exciting blood bath!

Everyone who watches dating show like these, asks themselves the same questions: What makes people think they can find love this way? Why do people want to publicly fall in love, or, in some cases, be rejected on national television?

Did you know what only the first season of the Bachelorette has produced a successful marriage? After 13 seasons of the Bachelor and four seasons of the Bachelorette, only one couple is married. And after last seasons, exciting and controversial finale, I wonder why people continue to sign up to essentially be heart broken.

Let me just say that I really enjoy watching the show and although I probably would not sign myself up for the next season of the Bachelor, who knows, in a few years, maybe.

The fairy tale that ABC has created is alluring; helicopter rides, exotic destinations, "fantasy suites", all sound so glamorous, but so impractical. Last season, Jason Mesnick claimed that the chemistry between him and Melissa Rycroft off-camera was completely different and thus, he ended things with her, only to pick up things with Molly Malaney, the season's runner-up. OF COURSE, the chemistry is different. Once you return to the real world from the world of reality television, things are going to different.

MTV and VH1 have also attempted several sleazier versions of the Bachelor style dating show. None of those have resulted in fruitful, or healthy, relationships either.

So, obviously reality dating television shows do not have a successful track record, but I wish Jillian well. I hope she can halt the cycle of broken hearts and find her Prince.

Living vicariously through my TV

I am a media junkie! I watch probably more than 5 hours of television a day, watch a few movies a week and attempt to read a book a month, which might not sound like much, but I'm an insanely slow reader.

Now some of you may say, wow! How does this girl have time for anything else? Does she just sit in her room all day glued to the television or a book?

Answer: NO! I am a full time student, going into my senior year, at the University of North Carolina, where I am currently taking summer classes. I also work about 20 hours a week at the YMCA teaching swim lessons and life guarding. I also hang out with friends, go shopping, work out, you know, other daily college student activities.

But, I have found that recently I have been living through my television, which some people may believe to be unhealthy or a misguided use of my time; however, I have found it truly enlightening.

The past two weeks I have gone through the entire spectrum of human emotion by simply watching my favorite television shows. Anyone that knows me, would say that I am an extremely emotional person; so, I would not be surprised if you did not respond the same way (although, I bet you balled like a little baby during the finale Grey's Anatomy too, you just won't admit it). Anyways, here is a run down of the emotional roller coaster that was my week of very emotional television: I was relieved that Jack Bauer finaly found the bio-weapon; celebrated that Melissa Rycroft will dance another day, but mourned the loss of Ty Murray; I am exhausted with Spencer Pratt (what a JERK!!); I was traumatized to see 5 college students to die on their graduation day, but was uplifted when Alex and Izzie got married and now depressed that she and O'Malley are more than likely died (we'll have to wait for next season); I was encouraged by Michael J. Fox and his stories of inspiration; I cried as I watch Peyton and Lucas finally got married!! And as always I shared some laughs with the crew from Friends, solved a crime with Olivia and Elliot, and shared witty banter with Rory and Lorelai.

I can't wait to see what this week brings!