6.15.2013

34 lessons I've learned in my 34 trips around the sun.

1. Eat dessert first.
2. Be kind (or at least try).
3. Never trust a fart to be just a fart.
4. Tell people what you're thinking (but not too often).
5. Chocolate makes everything better.
6. When you truly love someone, there's nothing you can't forgive.
7. When the heart breaks, it grows bigger.
8. You are doing it right.
9. On your 34th birthday, one of the best gifts is your 6 yr-old son sleeping in until 8:00 a.m. and then crawling in bed with you and whispering "Happy Birthday, Mom," in your ear. (Especially cute when he has lines on his face from sleeping on top of the blanket rather than under it.)
10. Fill up your gas tank BEFORE you hit "empty." (literally and metaphorically)
11. Remain a student, always.
12. Wear clean underwear.
13. Give away more than you take.
14. Play cards.
15. Don't play the lottery.
16. Going to the movies by yourself every once in awhile is a good thing.
17. A good vibrator is well worth the money.
18. Always tell people they did a great job at karaoke, even if they sounded like a cat being beaten with a stick. People who sing karaoke are either brave or drunk (or both), and either way, they deserve congratulations.
19. Embrace your scars, as they are stories of survival.
20. Don't make people earn your compassion; give it away for free.
21. Make people earn your respect; don't give it away for free.
22. Don't pick your scabs.
23. Go ahead and pick your nose. Everyone does it anyway. Just wash your hands afterwards.
24. Don't roll your eyes at your mother.
25. Tip generously.
26. Try new foods.
27. Just because it's on sale, doesn't mean you should buy it.
28. Gatorade is good for hangovers.
29. Do things that scare you every once in awhile, on purpose.
30. In the event of a sudden drop in cabin pressure, put your own oxygen mask on first.
31. Manual transmissions are better than automatic ones.
32. Jumping on a trampoline is very likely to make you pee your pants.
33. Always carry reading material with you. You never know.
34. It's a good idea to keep AA batteries on hand, so that you don't have to borrow them from any other small appliances when the Wii remote dies. (See # 17.)

Happy Birthday to me! I look forward to whatever the universe will reveal to me in the coming year. Bring it on! :)

4 comments:

eleciascreativei said...

It is amazing how much our family and friends can teach us. Clearly you learned #1 from Grandpa Bowen, #12 from Grammy, #24 from Mom and #30 from a skinny lady who talked way to fast on a short flight to Atlanta.

Josh Daugherty said...

Omg. This is so funny. This is top three best discoveries of mine since toasted bread.

Lara said...

This reminds me that I need to compile a list of my own. For me, this year marks the last year of being in my thirties. I had always assumed I would be awesome and have all my shit together by now. I still look around for my mom to fix everything because it should be obvios that shes clearly the mom and respobsible grown up ;) Guess I have a year to get the plan....gulp. Hopefully I can before my teenage daughter realizes I've been faking it the whole time. Thanks for the inspiration!!

Lara said...

Clearly it's late and I didn't proofread before I hit send...sorry!