Things I'd Like To Say To My Younger Self

You are unique. 

 You will come across few people during your lifetime who think like you. Just because you’re different from everyone else, don’t assume you’re wrong. Spend time getting to know yourself. Embrace your intuitive nature and learn to trust it. 

 You are beautiful. 

You don’t need to change anything. Don’t waste time comparing yourself to the girls around you, and definitely don’t judge yourself according to what you see in magazines and on TV. Don’t let anyone else define beauty for you. 

 Be happy as often as possible. 

 You cannot make anyone else happy. You are not responsible for anyone else’s happiness but your own. 

 Your family isn’t perfect. 

Look around you and find some good role models. Study them carefully because things are always different than how they look on the outside. 

 You are amazing. 

 Avoid anyone who doesn’t realize this. 

Should I return?

 I'm not sure I have it in me to return to the piney woods.  I both love and hate the memories of my time there. Yet they call to me, pulling me back with the promise of innocence.  As if I could return to the person I was before.  Before he came.  Before I knew.

M Is For Morning Person

A morning person wakes up happy - at 5:00 AM. She spreads words of cheer to all who pass within her orbit. As I meet her I send out a hearty greeting "shut the hell up!" Can't you see I'm sleeping? Don't let the walking and talking and drinking a venti coffee fool you.

Nothing worthwhile in life happens before 11 am. This is the mantra I would LIKE to live by. But in the beginning, all the morning people got up first and set the rules before we night owls were even awake. They created the start times for school, and work. Set up routines for when we should sleep, eat, play, do homework, even pray. And to make sure future generations of night owls wouldn't revolt and change the rules, they created moronic sayings to support their position and passed them down from generation to generation: "the early bird gets the worm", "early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, blah, blah, blah.

It's unknown how many night owls still exist. Many succumb to societal pressures to become a morning person, or at least look like one, rather than be labeled as lazy, self indulgent, etc. I have no actual data, but I believe that many of our culture's achievements can be traced to an enterprising night owl, trying to make it in the morning person's world: coffee, energy drinks, NoDoz ®, 5 hour energy shots. And on the other end of the spectrum: sleep aids (for going to sleep before your body is ready because you have to wake up before it's time). The todo list is very likely the night owl's invention - a way to keep track of important items even while half asleep. Checking items off the list came later. It was added by a morning person trying to prove how much more she accomplished each day by getting up early.

M is for morning person, but approach them with caution, lest you find yourself dealing with an SdNO - Sleep Deprived Night Owl, in disguise. You can look for the warning signs: excessive yawning before noon, drooping eye lids, being last to leave every party, placing 2:00 AM phone calls. Better yet, just keep it down until afternoon. Some of us are trying to sleep, and you might regret having disturbed us.

This post is linked to Jenny Matlock's alphabe-Thurday. Check out the other great M posts!