So another year has gone by and I seem to have gotten nowhere in particular. The joy is there but distant, like the revelry of a passing procession in the distance. An odd sense of calm has replaced whatever occupied me earlier. More than any accolade, I now merely want to earn my wrinkles well. Something made me jot down a few observations. For over 10,000 days lived, I feel I haven’t taken enough notes or notice. For what they are worth, here they are.
1. Be nice: The simplest of words and the toughest of acts.
2. Expect less: Realise others’ limitations.
3. Don’t be sorry too often: It’s the most wasted of humilities.
4. Worries are not worth it: Nothing will be, eventually; worries then are even lesser worth it.
5. Respect your parents: You’ll never be able to shower them with enough love or respect. Never.
6. Nothing is more important than now.
7. People will do anything if asked with love.
8. Selfish is always short-term.
9. Greed will devour you. Mercilessly.
10. The dead always get praised. Earn it instead while you are alive.
11. Impulse isn’t always a bad thing.
12. Work. There is nothing as unearned hedonism. The value of a joy is in its path of acquisition.
13. Life really isn’t about fairness. It is about coping with the inequalities.
14. Patience is unattainable for many of us. I have come to terms with it. Age will bring you some though.
15. Take stock of your joys. We don’t often enough and when the sadness hits, we have so little to dig into. 30 years of my life and all I have are a handful of memories.
16. We will never know what we want. Eliminating what we don’t want is a good point of start.17. From conundrum comes quorum.
18. Read. Nowhere better to find a friend than between the pages of a tome.
19. Vanities weaken. Try and let go of them.
20. Be who you really are. Everybody else is a tougher act.
21. Lies complicate. Truth is simple.
22. Know your friends.
23. Smile. It’s infectious.
24. Hatred consumes from within.
25. There is no alternative to laughter.
26. “Responsibilities” is an ugly word. Just try and be responsible.
27. Earn your place in the minds of others.
28. Choice is not always good. Sometimes let things decide themselves.
29. It is tough to forgive. Real tough.
30. Explore, invent, create or discover: remember to try something new as often as you can.
31. Endgame: we all die. Don’t forget to live till then.
