Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Mind if I cheat?

Day 10 Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge

I don't want to say that today's prompt is challenging but I'm not so sure I would tell myself anything that would change who I eventually would turn out to be (who I am now). I admit I made mistakes - big ones, but since this blog is supposed to be about my role as a parent of children with diabetes I don't see how confessions of a cheese head (grew up in WI - never tipped a cow) adds much value. I am who I am today because of the things done and not done yesterday. While I often experience times of self loathing (my weight, my disorganization, my occasional quick temper, my stubbornness, etc) I do actually like who I am. Yes it took me 10 years and 5 colleges to obtain my college degrees but during that time I served in the USAF, married my dear husband and became a mother. I can't really think of anything I would change and all the good advice has been given. So here you have a choice - read the lyrics copied below (I put my favorites in Bold) or listen to them via YouTube. Either way Baz Luhrmann - my goto advice guy said it best in 1999.

Baz Luhrmann YouTube

Dear Tina,

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have 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’re 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 bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday
.
Do one thing everyday 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 you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your 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 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…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself 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 what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own 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 are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the 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 you knew 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 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 nostalgia, 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…

So there you have it my letter to my 16 year old self - no I didn't write it but it says all I would want to say. I'm not perfect but I'm ok with who I am. I feel like I am making a difference in my kids lives, my community and as a diabetes advocate. I feel as though I utilize the talents I was given and encourage others to do the same.

2 comments:

  1. Wonderfully written... Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. thanks Becky - appriciate your kind words - I don't know that I know you from twitter - I am 'momof2t1s' there - mind if I ask how you found your way to my blog?

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