I’ve been cooking on this item for six months, hoping to get “60 life lessons I learned by the age of 60,” but I guess I haven’t learned that much, because I topped out at 50.

• Every day is the best, because it contains all your great days within it.
• Every day is the right day.
• Looking bad in the eyes of strangers doesn’t matter, and I don’t really look bad in the eyes of my friends.
• Healthy anger is constructive, but it can turn on you.
• Resentment only hurts you.
• If you have nothing to say, don’t say anything.
• Beans are the best. They are good at every point in their chain of existence; they are good for the environment, they are good for your body, and they are good for the soul.
• No one is inherently evil, no matter how awful they seem. No one is irredeemable.
• “Evil” isn’t a thing, it’s a perception. It is WAY too easy to call something evil, like cancer or Nazis, but those examples and a million more are just a point in the evolution of the universe.
• It’s too easy to misunderstand the world because we mess up the words that go with it. “Mexican” isn’t racist, for example, because Mexico isn’t a race, it’s a nation, and “Mexican” is a nationality.

• You can’t defeat something by hating it. It will just hate you back. Try understanding it.
• If your friends tell you during your crisis that, “If you need anything, anything at all, just let me know,” it means that they don’t understand what they are promising.
• Saying “you are in my thoughts and prayers” is seldom even the case. Saying that is a fashion statement, not a real expression of empathy.
• “True friends hold you accountable for your actions.” I held someone accountable once, and at first it seemed like the destruction of the friendship, but not long after that, she told me I was right, and thanked me for calling her out.
• Silence does not imply or infer guilt or siding with oppression, because most conversations deserve thought and reason, not impulsiveness. I do NOT make exceptions to this idea because of the urgency of current issues.
• Did I block you? Boo hoo. I blocked you because you suck.
• Entertainment is pleasure, not art.
• War will always be with us, and “We’re not here to do the right thing. We’re here to follow f*cking orders!”

• Violence sometimes seems like a very clear answer until you imagine that violence wielded against your loved ones or children.
• There have been many instances in which a group will be accused, and held liable, for how they are perceived, not how they are. In that moment, it is your responsibility to stand against that.
• Your responsibility to be ready for the fight never ends.
• Marriage is as good as you make it. We made ours, and rebuilt it every day, and it was great.
• The absolute best move when someone does something dangerous, stupid, or annoying is to be nice to them.
• Hold the door for people. Thank people when they hold the door for you.
• Expressing anger and hopelessness about humanity does nothing to improve it. Express hope, and ideas to make it better.
• Tracers point both ways.
• “IF” is the word in the middle of life.
• Our possessions own us, not the other way around.
• If what you are doing isn’t fun, you should be doing something else.
• Procrastination, no matter how much you claim you enjoy it, makes the task more difficult in the end. Thus…
• Just do it.
• Make that dream into a reality. Whether it is “Doctor” in front of your name or bicycling across Europe, no one is going to hand you these things.
• Your insecurities are lying to you about vulnerability. Being vulnerable can bring your heart and mind to new levels.
• Get up and move. Walking anywhere, anytime, is better for you than sitting.
• Listen to your wanderlust.
• He/she is just one person. There are 8 billion more.
• You decide what is true and meaningful. Don’t bet bullied into someone else’s ideas about the true nature of it all.
• Touch heals, which is why broken people don’t touch you.
• Hard work at every level is honorable.

• If you did everything you dream about doing and wish you would do, you’d never be bored again.
• Creativity in any form is the high point of human behavior.
• Words and how you use them make a difference. Well-crafted words and sentences command respect, and poor language damages your image and credibility.
• Manners matter, especially in the 21st century full of incivility.
• Standing up for what you think is right can be an asset, but be sure your really are right.
• It’s so hard to be honest, especially when many around you are in love with your own dishonesty.
• Try actually listening, instead of just waiting for your turn to talk.
• No one ever said, “That $29,000 helicopter ride was totally worth eating all those stale Burger King french fries.”
• Nobody ever said (or will say), “I sure am glad we put all those oil wells in the Grand Canyon.”
• Make your bed, hang up your coat, contain and eliminate the clutter.
• Know what among your possessions is really valuable, and what is really just garbage, and act accordingly.
• Dress up; I mean professional attire. If I were a boss and you came to me for an interview in shorts and a t-shirt, I won’t look twice at your resumé.