If I could offer you only tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits
of sunscreen have been proved by scientists where as 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 the 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 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. . .whatever 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 if, 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.
[49 second break in speech - Quindon singing]
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 t ostick with
you in the future.
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 will run out.
Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time it's 40, it will look like 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advise is a
form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from disposal, wiping it
off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen. . .