January 18, 2014
I have never really understood how I should feel or behave in a relationship. I didn't have the kind of childhood that would have given me any sort of perspective on what a happy home or relationship would feel like. You can't live your life blaming your failures on your parents. You're dealt the cards you're dealt. I realised it was a waste of time to be angry at my parents and feel sorry for myself. ~ Drew Barrymore
January 17, 2014
Look around; they've taken great American literature and turned it into Twitter. ~ Kelly Cutrone
January 16, 2014
When they discover the centre of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey
January 14, 2014
You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you. ~ Eric Hoffer
January 12, 2014
Awakening means to see the truth -- that you want to know how to enjoy how to live deeply, in a very simple way. You don't want to waste your time anymore. Cherish the time that you are given. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh (from " Answers From the Heart")
January 11, 2014
In the deepest hour of the night, confess to yourself that you would die if you were forbidden to write. And look deep into your heart where it spreads its roots, the answer, and ask yourself, must I write? ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
January 10, 2014
To be one's self, and unafraid whether right or wrong, is more admirable than the easy cowardice of surrender to conformity. ~ Irving Wallace
January 09, 2014
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, they make them. ~ George Bernard Shaw
January 08, 2014
The time has come when scientific truth must cease to be the property of the few, when it must be woven into the common life of the world. ~ Louis Agassiz
January 07, 2014
Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all. ~ Sam Ewing
January 06, 2014
There's a trick to the "graceful" exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, or a relationship is over -- and let it go. It means leaving what's over without denying its validity or its past importance to our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry, that we are moving up, rather than out. ~ Ellen Goodman
January 05, 2014
We need to master our own anger before we can help others do the same. When the flames of anger flare up, we tend to lash out at those who have watered our seeds of anger. It is like finding our house on fire, and instead of putting out the flames, chasing those we think started it. Arguing with others only waters the seeds of anger in us. When anger arises, return to yourself and use the energy of mindfulness to embrace, soothe, and illuminate it. Do not think you will feel better if you can make the other person suffer, too. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh (from "Teachings on Love")
January 04, 2014
I'm free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. ~ Robert Heinlein
January 03, 2014
Watching the moon at dawn, solitary mid-sky, I knew myself completely. No part left out. ~ Izumi
January 02, 2014
Over time, I've worked out that nobody else lives in my body, nobody else has to live my life, except for me. I'm the only one in charge of whether I'm happy or sad. ~ Gabourey Sidibe
January 01, 2014
Rules Kids Won't Learn in School
Rule Number One: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teenager uses the phrase, "It's not fair." 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule Number One.
Rule Number Two: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule Number One)
Rule Number Three: Sorry, you won't make $40 000.00 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.
Rule Number Four: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.
Rule Number Five: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.
Rule Number Six: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of, "It's my life," and, "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.
Rule Number Seven: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room, and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
Rule Number Eight: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule Number One and Rule Number Two)
Rule Number Nine: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up everyday. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every ten weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule Number One and Rule Number Two)
Rule Number Ten: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sit-com. Your problems will not all be solved in thirty minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.
Rule Number Eleven: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.
Rule Number Twelve: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an eleven year old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over twenty. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule Number Thirteen: You are not immortal. (See Rule Number Twelve). If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule Number Fourteen: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now.
You're welcome.
~Charles J. Sykes
Rule Number One: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teenager uses the phrase, "It's not fair." 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule Number One.
Rule Number Two: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain that it's not fair. (See Rule Number One)
Rule Number Three: Sorry, you won't make $40 000.00 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.
Rule Number Four: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's not going to ask you how you feel about it.
Rule Number Five: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.
Rule Number Six: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of, "It's my life," and, "You're not the boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a baby boomer.
Rule Number Seven: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room, and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
Rule Number Eight: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule Number One and Rule Number Two)
Rule Number Nine: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up everyday. For eight hours. And you don't get a new life every ten weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule Number One and Rule Number Two)
Rule Number Ten: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sit-com. Your problems will not all be solved in thirty minutes, minus time for commercials. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.
Rule Number Eleven: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.
Rule Number Twelve: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an eleven year old with a butt in his mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over twenty. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.
Rule Number Thirteen: You are not immortal. (See Rule Number Twelve). If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.
Rule Number Fourteen: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now.
You're welcome.
~Charles J. Sykes
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