Don’t talk yourself out of contacting an old friend
(Because it’s been too long or they never liked you that much or you’ve gained weight)
If you are having the thought to reach out to someone
It’s because they need to hear from you.
When an old friend won’t reach out to you:
Breathe. Live your life.
They love you.
They’ll be back.
Each new age and life stage will bring its own losses
But also its new opportunities
Focus on the opportunities.
Politics are just a stream of unpleasant noises emanating from T.V.s
Don’t be fooled
Most of us want the same good things.
It’s okay to care about how you look.
You should care.
An interest in fashion is not superficial.
It’s an easy way to feel happy every day.
Good jobs will pay you to take days off
Don’t be someone who turns these down
Be someone who trades them for adventures.
You don’t have to go big places to have big adventures.
It is a privilege to have a career working with people
No matter how needy or broken or bizarre
The day this stops feeling like a privilege
Is the day you need to find something else to do
It is an honor to get to live among animals
The fact that we can be best friends with an animal its whole life
-mutually-
Without exchanging one word
Is the surest proof of God
Every romance will feel slightly off until you meet your one true person
If you can’t put your finger on the problem—that’s the problem.
People die horrific deaths every second
We don’t need to know why
There is no why
Only the understanding that every life is too short
And that without death, life would be meaningless.
The best time to give a gift
Is when you want somebody to have something
For no special reason.
Read books.
On airplanes, in the bath tub, on your head,
Or else you are missing most of the world.
Don’t watch T.V. unless you have a good reason.
Say yes to any interesting invitation that comes your way
Sure, you’re busy.
Life is busy.
The only thing separating you from anybody else in this world
Is who your parents happened to be
And what circumstances you were born into.
This is not a reason to feel either jealousy or guilt
You have what you have.
Be confident.
You don’t need any particular knowledge or education to make a difference
If you are worried about making a difference
You probably already are.
Happy New Year, friends.
J-Bo.net 
What a beautiful reflection on the year and on life! Thanks for sharing. I especially liked the part about “the only thing separating you from anybody else in this world Is who your parents happened to be.” So true.
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Thanks! I’ve been thinking about that one a lot now that i’m a substance abuse counselor (which I believe you once mentioned you had been, as well). I always think about why I’m the one in my chair and my client is the one in theirs. So many times, it’s obvious, simple, and pure chance: their parents began injecting them with meth when they were 12, and mine did not. I thought about the same thing when I was working with impoverished children in India. It’s easy for me to start feeling guilty for all that I have in these circumstances, but I realize now that those feelings are pointless. I’m lucky for being lucky.
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“Most of us want the same good things [in politics]”. From your lips to God’s ear. But actually, some want prosperity, while others want equality.
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Exactly. Those are not mutually exclusive.
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Not to me. Don’t see any reason to have material equality. Requires taking away from the successful what they have earned, against their will. And it breeds jealousy and resentment, not happiness among everybody.
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Wow – I love this. Thanks for putting it all so well. Happy 2012. 🙂
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LOVE THIS! Considering printing it out and taping on my fridge as daily encouragement. Happy New Year, m’dear!
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I’d be honored! Happy New Year to you too 🙂 I’m so excited for our critiques.
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Lots of wisdom in this post!! My favs are: “Without death, life would be meaningless.” and “It is a privilege to have a career working with people.” Happy New Year!
Mom
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Good stuff Charlie. From my experience with my son, snnedipg time together is key. Much as he likes getting spoiled with presents, he gets much more enjoyment from his mum or dad playing the toys with him, than in getting them in the first place.A bedtime story has been a cornerstone of evening routine from a very early age, and he looks forward to that from the moment I get home from work.The best thing is that time doesn’t cost you anything. You don’t have to be taking your kids to fun (but expensive) places like zoos and theme parks all the time. A trip to the park, or playing in the garden is a great way to bond. And there are lots of cheaper things to do. I’ve recently found that my local cinemas has a Junior session on weekends, and so I’m taking the little man to watch The Lion King on the big screen tomorrow. A quid each. Bargain.Anyway, all the best to you and yours with the adventure ahead. I’ll be sure to keep checking on here for your progress.
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This could not possibly have been more helpful!
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Contact an old friend. You’ll soon know whether it was a mistake or not. We always learn most from our mistakes. If you are thinking of reaching out to someone, it’s because you need to feel that they need to hear from you. You might be right.
When an old friend won’t reach out to you that’s okay. You probably don’t need them now anyway.
Each day brings gain, loss and opportunities.
Politics serve only the politicians, the dirty, selfish bastards. Don’t be taken in. We’re all more alike than different.
Take care of the inside of yourself and the outside will follow.
Treat your days off as precious. They are.
Sometimes the best adventures are next door, around the corner or in your own back yard. The pure joy of an adventure is inversely proportional to the distance you travel to get there and the amount of money you spend.
It is a good day to die. It is a good day to live.
Your gift serves two, you and them. The secret, you more.
Read.
Television is a storm drain for brains.
Always have “yes” loaded in your quiver. You can always put it away and pull out a “no” only if necessary.
The thing separating you from anyone else is your concept of “you” and “them.”
Be here now. That alone makes all the difference.
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“It is a good day to die. It is a good day to live.” <– I love that line, and have been pondering it all week. Thanks!
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I love this–would you mind if I reblogged it?
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Not at all- I’d be honored! Thanks! 🙂
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I needed to cmopose you one very small remark to be able to say thanks a lot again on the wonderful tricks you’ve featured in this case. It has been really strangely open-handed of people like you to make unhampered just what numerous people would’ve supplied as an electronic book to get some dough for themselves, most importantly considering the fact that you might well have done it if you wanted. These inspiring ideas also acted to become a great way to understand that some people have similar fervor similar to my very own to learn a whole lot more with regard to this issue. I am sure there are lots of more enjoyable periods in the future for folks who discover your blog.
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Didn’t know the forum rules allowed such brilliant posts.
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was worthy of being read.He might podrive some perspective on “the way things were” versus “the way things are now” but that doesn’t give him any credibility on “the way things should be as we move forward”.Thing is, he does nothing of the sort all three of these. He questions design decisions. As a consultant and professor should do. Quite honestly, it doesn’t take a degree in MMO history to figure out what’s fun and not fun about a game.Funny you’d say that, because the immense pile of failed MMOs (not to speak about the rest of gaming, or entertainment at large) seems to be a clear indicator of the contrary. In practice, the designers are by the very nature of their trade quite incapable of determining ahead of time of what could be fun to a player.Take SWG for instance. If you want to market to the massive Star Wars fan base, from a player point of view, it doesn’t really take rocket surgery to figure that the core appeal of the two movie trilogies are Jedi and space battles with tiny crafts blowing up huge space stations. The KOTORs, despite their flaws, are fun to play because you play a Jedi. The X-Wing series are fun because you play the space battles. And you get Koster, definitely one of the more interesting designers to read, who oversees a game which launches without space travel, and set in a timeframe where there are one Jedi and two Sith in the whole entire universe.What Bartle does (and not just in that one interview) is provoke. It should be viewed as a reminder that despite WoW’s immense success, it’s not clear that Blizzard themselves actually know the recipe of the secret sauce. In the current production cycle, each game is going to come with a certain mix of a couple of been there done that elements, along with some new ones for good measure. Predicting whether you actually have the right mix to create, not a WoW competitor but simply a honourable 1-2 million subscriber game is not possible. Considering the budgets and sums in play today, though, agree or disagree with the Bartles, Kosters and Garriotts of the world, but the designers better damn well question every single decision they make before implementing them, and once a working implementation is here, question the whole desicion all over again. That’s part of the polishing process, and facilitating this kind of questioning is what Bartle has been doing for quite some time now.It’s interesting that we all think of the MMO genre as a single genre when it’s actually comprised of lots of different genres.Well, Eve, WoW and SL are all massively multiparticipant online worlds, MMOs. And that’s pretty much the only trait they have in common, as you pointed out. There’s probably going to be some refined terminology for the main categories which will eventually emerge once everyone agrees on their acronyms MMORPG certainly is a subdivision. And once we’re all agreed on what the subdivisions are, we will happily wage two or three decades of religious wars over what product fits into which category.
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I think, you said it all. All I can say it – thanks for putting what I abstractly think into a succinct clear list!
Happy new years!
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Thank you, Happy New Year’s to you too! 🙂
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This is a truly lovely post. I think I may have to print this out and post it on my wall as well. 🙂 A Happy and Healthy New Year to you!
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Thank you, Allie!
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Reblogged this on Cerulean Starshine and commented:
Important things to remember!
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It really is great. And the guys aren’t poeryartd as lesser’ men for it. Schmidt cooks, Winston is a nanny, and Nick is challenged on his mid-life crisis and lack of drive, but it’s never characterized as what he deserved to have’. He is constantly called out on his own failings in moving his life forward. Jess has grown on me, but I really find the guys the compelling part of the show.
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Reblogged this on The Everyday Cyclist and commented:
You could do a lot worse than living your life by this, or similar.
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Belatedly chiming in to tell you how much I love this! Happy New Year, wise one!
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Belatedly chiming in to thank you for your comment. Happy New Year to you as well!
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great post – found you due to your freshly pressed post but enjoying a quick dash through your blog this morning 😉
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