Note to Self

 100 years is a long time.  You could do a lot, earn, achieve, create, experience.   Maybe you want to be a bodybuilder.  Maybe you want to be a god.  Write a book.  Master a subject.  Earn a degree.  Read all the Newbery and Hugo winners.  Travel the world.  Make movies, music, millions.   Be famous.  Raise a family.  Be free!  Read a book a day, for 50 years:  365x50:  18,250 books!   That’s close to omniscience, in my book.  Just do it.  Git ‘r done.

Bodybuild.   Eat right.  Sweat, daily.  Muscle-confusion.  Take the stairs.  Brush, floss, rinse.  Get enough sleep.   Take naps.  Meditate, for mastery over your mind.  Get a partner.  Get motivated.   Don’t oversleep.  Get a routine, don’t take shortcuts.  Early to bed, early to rise.  Make incremental improvement.   Have goals.  Reward yourself.  Discipline to get where you’re going.  Visualize.  Never give up.  Keep going.  Be all that you can be.  Push your limits.

God.  Be good.  Don’t be evil.  Go to different religious rituals.  Incorporate all the best things from everyone into your own, personal, syncretic religion, philosophy, theology, dogma.  Share and teach and write and discuss.  Don’t reject anything.   It could all be true.  Love.  Strive to make you and others happy.  Love yourself, your neighbor, your family, your friends, everyone, all beings.  Eat less meat.   Reduce suffering, increase joy.  Make the world a better place.  Accept people for who they are.  Set an example.  Respect everyone.  Be righteous, and fight for what you believe in.   Learn from your mistakes (and others’).   Be kind, and helpful, and cheerful, trustworthy, loyal, friendly, courteous, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent.  You are not perfect - submit to a higher power.  Love life, have fun, laugh, play, and be young at heart, even as you leave childish things behind.   Make a difference.  

Book.  Write what you enjoy writing about, for yourself.   Research and write on topics that are helpful, satisfy curiosity, are fun to read, and meet a demand.  Free your mind, unleash yourself, imitate the authors you love, and do what you love so your work is your hobby is your recreation and your bliss!  Stay curious, lifelong learning never ends.  Stay inspired, and follow your muse, your personality, your inclinations, down whatever rabbit holes and avenues you wish to explore.   Stay true to your passions.   If it was fun to write, it will probably be fun to read!  And if it’s from the heart, you’ll gain money and fame, anyway, I feel.

Read.  Read everything, be voracious, reject nothing.  Detail, detail, detail.  Discover your favorite author(s), and switch genres, keep yourself challenged, keep things interesting.  News, history, geography, fiction, poetry, best of lists, trivia… whatever sparks your interest, and keeps you coming back for more.   Speed-reading is valuable, as is having a place where you usually focus and engage, is helpful.   I have book lists that will probably keep me engaged for a lifetime.   I am resigned to the fact that I will never finish all the reading that I’d like.   I can’t even read the daily NYT, weekly Economist, email, and 4 daily history sources, which is a bare minimum.   I have books of books.  Bloom canon, for example.  Bill Gates’ recommendations.  1001 “before you die” books.  All of Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace and Lev Grossman and Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett and Karen Armstrong and Bill Bryson…. You get the idea.  If you’re bored, you’re boring.   Books transport you to different times, places, psyches, worlds, and author’s imaginations.  They’re a key to freedom, escape, entertainment, learning, flow, and joy.

Travel is as good as books, maybe.   Movies and music and restaurants can take you part of the way, but if you have the time and resources, the culture shock of actual travel might be the drug you’re looking for, as you meet people from around the world, make friends, and immerse in the sights, sounds, and smells.  Stay safe.

Earn.  Don’t be poor.  But don’t make yourself a slave to an unpleasant grind, either.  Specialize and work in a field that you enjoy, you’re good at, and that meets a need.  That’s it, really.   Don’t be in debt, grow your savings, and stay in budget.  Hopefully, if the stars are aligned, you won’t have to worry about money.   Frugality pays.  If you can afford a house, a car, and a family, you’re living the dream.  And if you can, it’s nice to give to charities you believe in, too.