Whisper words of wisdom.

Today is List Friday, courtesy of Loretta, of Pomegranates and Paper (which I originally saw at BabBab's)

This week's theme: Advice for the college graduate, from the keyboard of one older and wiser - or at least older…

Since I read today (in the WSJ?) the age of the average college graduate is 22.4, here are my 22.4 pieces of advice:

1- There is no shame in doing it for the money, provided "it" is not loathsome, like Mob hitperson or professional terrorist.
2- Foster a sense of humility, insofar as you realize the world does not revolve around you, balanced with a realistic sense of your own worth. (Braille-method brain surgery is easier.)
3- Anger, 9 out of 10 times, is a useless emotion. (8.5 out of 10 times, it's toxic to you.)
4- Stress is not an aerobic exercise.
5- Kiss the people you love, and remind them you do. (Do it anyway.)
6- The operative part of "enlightened self-interest" is "enlightened."
7- Be grateful for everything you have, even the difficult challenges.
8- Life gets a lot easier when you develop tenacity, persistence and an ability to focus. After all, the really difficult takes a long time to accomplish; the impossible, a little longer. Don't give up. Don't ever give up.
9- Learn the difference between expressing yourself and complaining.
10- A little prayin' wouldn't kill you.
11- Read something that expands your brain. Read something that makes you defend and then think about your worldview, not just get mad at the writer. Read Shakespeare and Wodehouse and Chesterton, too. But mostly Wodehouse.
12- Get friends to whom you'd freely give a kidney. You don't need many; three tops. If you already have done so, hold to them with a (metaphorically speaking) police chokehold.
13- Find something to make you laugh every day. Preferably something not bitter, angry, or cynical. (Those are just extra-credit.)
14- When you have children, treat them with all the love and respect due those who will decide what retirement home to send you.
15- Keep your word, come what may.
16- Floss, and brush a lot, and don't put off getting that cracked molar looked at.
17- Be actively kind, even when you don't want to. (It's okay to be snarky in private, but only if it's really funny.)
18- Learn to apologize well. Mean it. Learn gratitude. Express it.
19- Answer letters and emails promptly.
20- Develop standards and care about them, and transmit what you know.
21- "Fashionable" and "flattering" are very rarely synonymous.
22- Live every day like it's your last, because you'll be right one day.
22.4- Remember the Law of Unintended Consequences.

That is all, cue the Elgar.

-J.