And now a bit of nostalgia.....
Just before my HS graduation, someone sent this around to everyone on SchoolLoop or whatever they called it. I found it today. Seems a touch to late, but hey, right?
It reads as follows:
My Fellow Wanderers of Existence,
This just might do nobody any goo, but hopefully I will be able to convey here all that needs to be said, so I'll try not to mince words; I'm probably not going to see most of you ever again for the rest of my life--or even really meet you at all--and so this is the only place I can say it.
Firstly, free yourself enough to live your life to the hilt in whatever way you choose, because you are not going to be here forever, and it looks a lot like pain, suffering, and death are as much a part of the package deal of life as all the good stuff which we seek. We've been trained by our culture to evade the uncomfortable, to shrink from that that hurts, that this is normal: it is, but only to a point. All you are, have been, and shall be will be broken, destroyed or lost in some way eventually, so my advice is to keep and enjoy what you can while you can, while always keeping on the lookout for something worth giving it up. Who hasn't had their ears bent back and their skull seared for the number of times we've heard that it's better to regret having done something than never doing it at all, etc., etc.?
On a related subject, take time to go digging through the world in order to find that thing that you love doing. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, because I'm pretty sure something is out there waiting to smack you upside the head with the realization that you adore it A someone like that also probably exists for you, so go find them, too. And when you've found these people and/or things, secure some time specifically for doing and/or being with them, and don't stop unless you and yours will starve to death because of it, if at all. Anything that isn't something you love and doesn't affect those for whom you care is probably a waste of your time (no, that doesn't include politics, see below).
And never stop actively evolving as a person! No matter your position on Darwin's idea, don't let anything stop your growth as a person. Many of you could look back at whoever you were five or ten years ago and see someone very, very different; this is healthy. You students reading this will have or have already had something like this but bigger--if such a thing is possible--happen to you. That seems to be pretty normal too, and though it may cause some destruction in the life you know, that's okay because it's been becoming like a sbirt you've grown out of or the pajamas you wore as a four-year-old.
As a guy more wise than not once told me, "All that you can change is the person looking back at you in the mirror." The way of doing this hinges upon the little, seemingly insignificant things that you do; nothing is truly insignificant, at least with respect to one's own actions.This is why you students who are bemoaning your terrible workload (with varying degrees of legitimacy)--and everyone in general who has trouble with such things--must learn to just get the drudgework done. Do your chores, read your books, and finish that homework, because learning how to make yourself do that is more important to you than anything Dickens or Hamlet could tell you (most of the time; one or two people may take away something deeper from any specific drudgery). Pay attention because this is experience speaking.
Foresight, on the other hand, would like you to please realize and remember every now and then as you proceed to growup into your future selves, complaining about the way things are, and so on, is that one day we'll be the ones running and ruling the world (we, as in our generation, not our nation). Because we will, and we need to be ready for it, and take it on. We are no worse than any before us, and the only thing that could possibly stop us from doing great things is not moving to do them; it doesn't matter whether it's because of ignorance or lack of interest. So remember every now and then, keep your eyes open as the situation develops, and set aside some time every now and then to steward the world so our kids can have something good, too. We can achieve the nigh-impossible and shape the world however we like, and it's just us.
Finally, please forget to forget the marvels and wonder everywhere that people take for granted; it goes hand in hand with our ways of getting used to things and blinds us to the magic of life and existence.
May you Flow in all you do. Your Fellow Traveler,
The Walking Spider
It reads as follows:
My Fellow Wanderers of Existence,
This just might do nobody any goo, but hopefully I will be able to convey here all that needs to be said, so I'll try not to mince words; I'm probably not going to see most of you ever again for the rest of my life--or even really meet you at all--and so this is the only place I can say it.
Firstly, free yourself enough to live your life to the hilt in whatever way you choose, because you are not going to be here forever, and it looks a lot like pain, suffering, and death are as much a part of the package deal of life as all the good stuff which we seek. We've been trained by our culture to evade the uncomfortable, to shrink from that that hurts, that this is normal: it is, but only to a point. All you are, have been, and shall be will be broken, destroyed or lost in some way eventually, so my advice is to keep and enjoy what you can while you can, while always keeping on the lookout for something worth giving it up. Who hasn't had their ears bent back and their skull seared for the number of times we've heard that it's better to regret having done something than never doing it at all, etc., etc.?
On a related subject, take time to go digging through the world in order to find that thing that you love doing. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, because I'm pretty sure something is out there waiting to smack you upside the head with the realization that you adore it A someone like that also probably exists for you, so go find them, too. And when you've found these people and/or things, secure some time specifically for doing and/or being with them, and don't stop unless you and yours will starve to death because of it, if at all. Anything that isn't something you love and doesn't affect those for whom you care is probably a waste of your time (no, that doesn't include politics, see below).
And never stop actively evolving as a person! No matter your position on Darwin's idea, don't let anything stop your growth as a person. Many of you could look back at whoever you were five or ten years ago and see someone very, very different; this is healthy. You students reading this will have or have already had something like this but bigger--if such a thing is possible--happen to you. That seems to be pretty normal too, and though it may cause some destruction in the life you know, that's okay because it's been becoming like a sbirt you've grown out of or the pajamas you wore as a four-year-old.
As a guy more wise than not once told me, "All that you can change is the person looking back at you in the mirror." The way of doing this hinges upon the little, seemingly insignificant things that you do; nothing is truly insignificant, at least with respect to one's own actions.This is why you students who are bemoaning your terrible workload (with varying degrees of legitimacy)--and everyone in general who has trouble with such things--must learn to just get the drudgework done. Do your chores, read your books, and finish that homework, because learning how to make yourself do that is more important to you than anything Dickens or Hamlet could tell you (most of the time; one or two people may take away something deeper from any specific drudgery). Pay attention because this is experience speaking.
Foresight, on the other hand, would like you to please realize and remember every now and then as you proceed to growup into your future selves, complaining about the way things are, and so on, is that one day we'll be the ones running and ruling the world (we, as in our generation, not our nation). Because we will, and we need to be ready for it, and take it on. We are no worse than any before us, and the only thing that could possibly stop us from doing great things is not moving to do them; it doesn't matter whether it's because of ignorance or lack of interest. So remember every now and then, keep your eyes open as the situation develops, and set aside some time every now and then to steward the world so our kids can have something good, too. We can achieve the nigh-impossible and shape the world however we like, and it's just us.
Finally, please forget to forget the marvels and wonder everywhere that people take for granted; it goes hand in hand with our ways of getting used to things and blinds us to the magic of life and existence.
May you Flow in all you do. Your Fellow Traveler,
The Walking Spider