More Life 2 - 35
Intro
By the time this blog goes up, my birthday will have passed, making me 35. Honestly, this might have been one of the worst lead ups to a birthday in my life. In the beginning of the week, I had an accident that messed up my back really badly. It was probably sciatica and it left me mostly immobilized and homebound for about 4 days. I could not even stand up straight. It’s kind of a long story, and in some ways, quite humorous, so I think I’ll turn it into a Storytime short.
That said, this blog is not about that. I’ve seen threads on Twitter (now X), where people will post lessons learned on their birthdays, and I think that’s a neat idea. So I want to take some time to write 35 lessons I’ve learned.
Another Feather In The Cap
Be comfortable being uncomfortable
If you don’t have anything to say, be quiet
Check your ego because hubris will destroy you
Learn financial literacy because being poor sucks
Control your sex drive because it can destroy you
Wake up early because it gives you a life advantage
Be grateful for life because it can be so much worse
Find God because if he is with you, who can be against you
Easy choices make a hard life, hard choices make an easy life
Rest your body because a major injury could set back your life
Avoid over planning because it’s more important to get started
Learn to say no because not everything deserves your attention
Be careful of what you tolerate because you can be too tolerant
Spend time with your family because it sucks seeing them get old
Be strong during your low points, because it will allow you to endure
Do not trust what people say because their actions will speak louder
If you do what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always gotten
Be very conscious of what you eat because food can be medicine or poison
Understand your limits because that’s the only way you can blow past them
Learn to defend yourself because you can’t assume that somebody else will
Invest in your core group of friends because many will go their separate ways
Travel and see new places and people because it will expand your perspective
Make a good reputation for yourself, because your words will mean something
Whenever you fall, always get back up because you only lose if you stay down
Accept that people think differently than you, and that does not make them bad
Be very careful of who you put your trust into because naivety will cost you dearly
Do not be afraid to cut people out of your life because they will disturb your peace
Do not treat your health like a joke because it will be all you think about if you lose it
Know the difference between good debt and bad debt because debt is how America operates
Use every tool at your disposal because life is brutal and you will need all the help you can get
Be wary of manipulative tactics people use because many people only like you so they can use you
It’s not enough to want something because you must be willing to sacrifice something else to get it
Whatever happens in your life, you can handle it because you have handled everything up to this point
Talk half as much as you listen because it is more important to understand what someone is saying than it is to respond
Don’t expect the money you lent to come back because it’s easier to let it go than it is to convince the borrower to return it
Outro
Being alive for 35 years is kind of surreal to me. I vividly remember my childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. Sometimes I forget my age. Even with all this life that has passed, in many ways I still feel like a kid. I’m excited to see what the future holds. Cheers for more life!
-Until next time-