Wear Sunscreen by Mary Schmich -- The Best Advice Ever!

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, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've 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 are 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 bubble gum. 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 every day 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 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. 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 of 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 your 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're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a 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 who knew you 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'll 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.

Here's my advice to anyone (my younger self, brother, or stranger):

Pessimism is the way to go in life, but call it being realistic. When you have accounted for the worst possible outcome, life becomes child's play and events can only delight you.

The goals you should set for yourself from an early age should be health, wealth, and wisdom.

Youth, time, and health are wasted on the young.

When you're young, you think you're invincible. It's only when you suffer your first irrevocable injury that you begin to learn.

Life is loss. Cherish the time you have with friends and family.

Beauty fades, so take advantage of your youth to do things you'll never try again. Kiss random boys. Learn what you love.

Mooch off your parents for as long as you reasonably can.

When you're young, you have plenty of time but no money. When you're old, you have all the money in the world but are running out of time.

Set ambitious but achievable goals that are also realistic for the lifestyle you want to lead. Figure out that lifestyle quickly.

Don't let anything distract you from your goals, but do plan time to smell the roses on your way up the mountain. There's no point climbing up so quickly that you're out of breath and take a nasty fall a step from the top.

Carve out your own niche in life. Learn from others, and even adopt their ethos as your own, but never compare yourself to everyone, because you can't match everyone in everything.

Too much ambition makes us long for solitude.

I read the whole thing, and the only thing I can say is YOLO

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!

Some people will understand earlier some later.....

Missywonder wrote: I read the whole thing, and the only thing I can say is YOLO

YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!

Some people will understand earlier some later.....

That's exctly the message on this great advice

Hakuna Matata, etc., etc. .

i think this was a song in the 80s

dg! wrote: i think this was a song in the 80s

Not a song... just a chronicle

Heres my advice in no particular order -

Treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself.

Be open minded and try new things, you never know where it may lead to.

Make it a habit to eat healthily, drinks lots of water and do exercise.

Respect and cherish your parents, give time to listen to their advice and make an effort to visit them.

Put yourself in other peoples shoes if you want to understand things from another person's perspective.

Visiting different countries and talking to people of different cultures can open up a person's mind to a different world, one that can take you to colourful and beautiful places.

Save some money for a rainy day, you never know when you might really need it.

Love and friendship should not be taken for granted, human companionship is a very special thing.

Learn from past mistakes, they can make you a stronger person for the future.

This speech was made into a spoken-word song actually while back.

thiskoreamericanlife wrote: This speech was made into a spoken-word song actually while back.

It was translated around the world it has in Portuguese as well... but actually Wear Sunscreen is a chronicle.