Some things I have learned in life up to now (29 years.)

Some things I have learned in life up to now (29 years.)

1. Do whatever it takes to stay busy and out of trouble.
2. Find work; enroll in school even if just for one class.
3. Worry only about being content and patient for success.
4. Then worry about your family and pleasing and helping them.
5. Friends come and go. Family is forever.
6. Pray when times are hard.
7. Pray when times are good to give thanks.
8. Read, write, listen to music, ride a bike or skate.
9. If your mind is still racing, write down what it is racing about.
10. Find someone to play chess or dominoes or cards with once a week.
11. Exercise and eat right.
12. Sleep when you are tired at night and stay up all day.
13. Remember where trouble and temptation have taken you, but do not live in the past.
14. The past is behind us, the future is uncertain; all we have is now so make the best of now.
15. When you fail do not take it personally.
16. Do not let other peoples views of you mean anything (unless it is a family member.)
17. Take care of number one, and number one is you.
18. Stay away from women until you can afford them, which means more than money, it means time and attention…a lot of all three.
19. Find a girl that you can just be friends with and not want to hook up with.
20. Remember silence is okay and so is loneliness, make these things your friends, enjoy them. Then everything else becomes a real treat.
21. Learn to look at things from another perspective than your first view. This means pausing inside your mind and then re-evaluating the situation.
22. Do not worry about drinking or doing drugs or getting into trouble, if you aren't thinking about this stuff it will not occur to you to even get involved with them.
23. There is nothing you are missing out on that you haven't already seen or done when it comes to partying with your so called friends.
24. Most people say they are your friend because they like to party with you. In life, we may be lucky to have a handful of REAL friends.
25. Don't be in a hurry, patience is everything, you will get to where you are going soon enough. Soak up the moments as the hit you.

Remebering

When I was young my mother was poor. My father was not in the picture much. My mom could not afford cable TV, but she knew my sister and I both really loved the Muppets Show. The only thing better than the Muppets show, is the Muppets movie…the original 70’s version. You see Jim Henson tapped into a very special part of us kids. There was no Muppet that was ordinary, except Kermit, and even he was just happy being green though he told us all that it wasn’t an easy job. It was existentialism on its most preschool level. It spoke to children in a way I don’t see being done anymore. So long before I ran into Hemingway or Melville or Cooper, it was all about the Muppets and Sesame Street of course. Oh, wait, and Mr. Rogers. Yes I did like his show. Where else can a kid see how vinyl records and trombones are made…or crayons. I mean shit, the man had a train come through his house and deliver him messages. So anyways…the Muppets. My mom knew we loved them and we had never been able to see the movie when it was in theaters. So she saved here and there. She had heard that the movie was going to be aired on HBO. So she subscribed without telling us. Then she invited all of our friends over for a party. She bought a cake with Kermit and Miss Piggy depicted in sweet sweet colored frosting on the top. The day was glorious. We all watched the movie and ate cake and cookies and ice cream. We gave ourselves stomach aches and laughed in the afternoon, while our single mothers sipped Tab and ‘talked story’ as they say in the islands. Than afternoon, you could have told me that I have the best mom in the world. I would have smiled and said yes. But I didn’t really know it. I didn’t think about those things. I took whatever kindess given or showed to me for granted the way all children do. Now though, I look back and realize that my mother was selfless. When she had children, she started living for them and sacrificed anything and everything for them. It brings to mind another instance in which my mother was a shining example of a selfless parent. When I was a bit older the film ET came out. She took me to a downtown Honolulu theater to see it. After the movie I was so thrilled and pleased within my little world. I remember thinking that when ET got sick he looked an awful lot like dog poo does when it gets really old and no one picks it up. But my mother walked me out of the theater and I stopped and looked one last time at the poster for the film. The movies images ran over and over again in my mind. My mother looked down at me and asked me if I liked the movie. She knew the answer. Then she asked if I would like to see it again.