by John Devera

Created on: February 22, 2008

After four decades spent making a variety of mistakes, I would like to offer my valuable experience. These are lessons that I guarantee will improve your life immeasurably. Money back, if not satisfied.

1) Learn these three phrases and apply them whenever applicable. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault. It'll never happen again." This will end all arguments. Your adversary will be left with his mouth hanging open. People will start referring to you as a person of integrity.

2) If you spend your time doing what you're supposed to be doing, you will never have time to get into trouble. Idle hyands and all that. We spend half our lives moaning about how short our live's are, how little time we have, how far behind we are. And yet, we spend the other half of our time doing thinhs we know are stupid, wasteful, unproductive, and not much fun anyway.

3) Don't pass up an opportunity to have fun jsut because you think you'll look dumb. No one remembers the person who played it safe. But I remember the time I tangoed with my girlfriend on the steps of the Santa Barbara courthouse in the moonlight. No one puts "He looked like a geek" on your tombstone. Don't worry so much about what people will think of you. You have nop control over that whether you play it safe or act crazy.

4) "In this world, you can be oh so kind, or oh so clever. I have been the latter, I recommend the former." Elwood P. Dowd said that in the play Harvey. It's good advice. Being cheerful costs nothing and makes a huge difference. Letting everyone know how miserable you are only makes other people miserable, and guess who they will blame?

5) Time invested in God is time you will never regret.

6) No one owes you anything. Not even life. There's no such thing as "unfair." Life is life. You take it as it is, and if you do it right, you enjoy it. Suck the marrow, lick the juice from your chin, for that matter lick the juice from the chin of that pretty girl over there.

7) There are no guilty pleasures. If something makes you fell guilty, then it cannot and will not ever be a pleaure. On the other hand, if something makes you happy, wheyjer it is a trashy novel, a piece of chocolate or a nice juicy steak, then stop being guilty.

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