Things I Wish I Knew

Things I Wish I Knew When I Was 22
1. Don't smoke.

2. If a relationship doesn't feel right, walk away. Run away, if necessary

3. Before you marry, ask yourself if you have any doubts. If you do, then don't. It's not cold feet, it's intuition.

4. Love doesn't always come in a Calvin Klein package, so don't overlook the odd duck who has character. Beauty fades with time, a kind heart doesn't.

5. Take ballet lessons. It gives you poise and balance. The posture you will develop will take years off your appearance, which is a lot cheaper than plastic surgery.

6. Start saving now, and always fully fund your 401K (compound interest works)

7. Always find time to exercise.

8. Buy property as soon as possible. Whenever you can, follow the old dictum, "buy what appreciates, rent what depreciates."

9. Tolerance is a great gift. If you can learn to look at things from other people's perspective, you will seem wiser, have more friends, and fewer fights.

10. Only worry about things you can have an impact upon. You can only learn from the past, you can't change it. Anything beyond that is wasted energy.

11. Finding a job you love is more important than finding one that pays a lot of money. Forty years is a long time to do something you don't like, even if they pay you a lot to do it.


--From a gift I received after my graduation from MSU