Commencement Weekend

Commencement weekend

This is a break from the normal healthcare focused posts I do each day.  Because this is a big weekend.  Not only does my oldest niece graduate from college, but I am also watching my “son” graduate from high school.  While I am a step mom and he is not my biological child, I have loved, supported, guided, and tried to be the positive role model that any parent would be for a kid they love, despite not being his biological mom.  I am beyond proud of both of the graduates in my life this weekend.  My son is headed to college, my niece is headed into a professional healthcare program.  Both have the ability to do whatever their hearts desire as long as they stay true to themselves, eyes on the prize, and put in the blood, sweat, and tears. And lots of ramen noodles and midnight paper writing. Lol.

So to all of you out there celebrating a graduation this weekend, I share with you the lyrics to one of my favorite oldie but goody commencement weekend songs.  Baz Luhrmann, Wear Sunscreen.  https://genius.com/Baz-luhrmann-everybodys-free-to-wear-sunscreen-lyrics

Wear sunscreen. 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; or never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have 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 bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4 PM 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 the 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 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 in your own 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 are 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 for the 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 you knew 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 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