Though this advice was widely attributed to a Kurt Vonnegut commencement address, the real author is Mary Schmich. Still, it makes a lot of sense.
Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term bennefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
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 the 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 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 your behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.
Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you suceed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep you 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 the rest of 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 youself 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 insturment you'll ever own.
Dance, even if you have nowhere to to do it but your 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'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 with a 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 who knew you 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 nostaglia. 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.
There are just a couple of things I would add to this list:
Recycle
Pay off your credit cards each month. Its a really bad loan
if you don't.
Read! Read widely. Read deeply.
Pit down your phone. There is a great big world out there. Like
the bumper sticker says, "Pull your head out of your apps."
Car drivers, give room to bicycle riders. Bike riders, you have
to follow the rules.
Two outs ... you have to be running.
If a friend/spouse/anyone has a secret they want to tell you and they want to tell you on the Jerry Springer Show - DON'T GO!
Don't park in spaces that are reserved for handicapped unless you have the proper authorization.
Don't get involved in a land war in Asia.
Thank you and remember to tip your servers.
