1. Never take good friends for granted. Friends are the family you choose. When their hearts break, yours will too. When they triumph, share that joy. If you’re very lucky, you will have two or three friends in your life for whom you would lay down your life. Choose wisely.
2. Spend some intentional time alone regularly. Go to the museum, buy yourself a book, take a walk. Learn to enjoy your own company.
3. Don’t get obsessed with TV or video games. Those are fun distractions, but at the end of the day that’s all they are. Distractions.
4. Be an open book. I mean this so seriously – no lies, no masks, just you. Whoever loves you will love you hard. You shouldn’t care about what anyone else thinks anyway. I know, easier said than done.
5. Be compassionate and love as much as you can. It’s always better to love too much than too little.
6. Tell me everything. Or at least just the important stuff.
7. Learn to like a lot of different types of music. Music is everywhere. It’s better to enjoy as much of it as possible.
8. “Never go with a hippie to a second location.” -Jack Donaghy
9. Learn to live simply. The love of money is absolutely the root of all evil on this earth. No doubt about it. In the great words of Biggie, “Mo money, mo problems.”
10. Know at least one person you could call at any hour of the night who would still be willing to hear your 3am mental crisis. (This person would only answer because you might be in real trouble somewhere and handle it with a fairly level-headed response.) This is true friendship, but don’t take it personally when they fall asleep listening to you freak out.
11. Don’t ever be afraid to admit to God when you’re angry –even at Him. He can take it; and that kind of pain when buried will ice you out from the inside.
12. Dance with me in the kitchen, dance at prom, dance when you’re alone. You’ll be a happier person for it.
13. Keep framed pictures of your family in your room. These will serve as a reminder of the people who love you like crazy when you feel like no one does.
14. Clean for 10 minutes every night before bed. You’ll save yourself so much trouble every weekend (and those few minutes before a date comes over to watch a movie. Don’t forget about the bathroom.)
15. Learn an instrument. People who do never regret it.
16. Don’t ever ignore my calls for longer than a 24 hour period. I will think you are dead and call the cops. Or I’ll punish you by talking about vitamins and all of your life choices. For hours.
17. Buy yourself a leather jacket that fits well. Chicks dig ’em.
18. Invest in a good watch. It’ll last longer than that long board or i-Phone you’ve had your eye on. And a man needs a watch. Make sure it’s waterproof.
19. Never put your value in the person you’re dating. Girls come and go. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesn’t.
20. Your dad will always be able to whoop your butt. Facts of life.
21. Don’t ever call the people you care about names in the heat of the moment. You can never take that back, and you’ll feel like garbage for it later.
22. Shave your head into a mow-hawk at least once in your life.
23. Be careful who you fall for. That girl with the snakebite lip rings and tattoo of a wolf howling on her back will break your heart. Guaranteed. But some heartbreak is worth it.
24. Broaden your taste buds. Beer is not manly. Drink wine if you like wine. I’ll only call you a snob once, I promise.
25. Always handle tequila with caution.
26. Take getting behind the wheel as seriously as handling a loaded gun. Remember this when you’re thinking about attempting to drift in a parking lot to impress the dumb girl in the crop top. Only dumb girls are impressed by irresponsibility.
27. Watch movies with the subtitles on.
28. Drink your coffee black. Depending on cream and sugar can lead to a real unnecessary let down. Apply this reasoning to most areas in your life.
29. Drink water like it’s your job.
30. Don’t ever try to fix an electrical problem yourself. Not all men have innate handyman abilities, as much as you want to believe you do.
31. Give it some serious though before getting a tattoo. Tattoos can be awesome but they’re serious business. If you come home with nautical stars, or barbed wire wrapped around your bicep, I will never stop teasing you as long as I live.
32. Protect your family first. Don’t ever put your friends or a woman before us. The right woman will respect that.
33. When you have to fight, fight. Violence won’t fix anything, but sometimes there’s just no other option. Just don’t be that guy steppin’ up to every fool that looks at him sideways. Everyone hates that guy.
34. Don’t do drugs. Drugs ruin lives. Some lucky people get out, some don’t. A few minutes of realizing the meaning of your life, and then promptly forgetting it while coming down in your friend’s bedroom is not worth the gamble.
35. Always be the most hardworking person you know.
36. Get enough sleep, especially before school and dates. Both require the kind of attention that is impossible without sleep.
37. Learn how to drive a stick. If you can drive a stick shift well, you can drive anything.
38. Be satisfied with what you have. No material thing will ever quench your desires, no matter how lavish. It’s always one more thing, one more status symbol that screams: “I am unsatisfied with who I am! I look for acceptance in others because I don’t love myself!”
39. Deal with your hurt feelings respectfully. Revenge shows everyone involved just how badly your feelings were hurt, and how much you cared. Sometimes the best way to get back is to just move on. There are better, more private ways to deal with hurt feelings.
40. Don’t ever belittle anyone else’s feelings. When you do that, you exhibit the worst kind of arrogance.
41. Be educated. You may not have a degree in neuroscience, but whatever you do, do it well. Have a wealth of knowledge.
42. Value wisdom above all other traits when looking for a woman. Wisdom is not always quiet, or rigid. Sometimes wisdom is having the courage to fiercely be who you are. Learn to see it in others. Seek it out.
43. Look for the underlying beauty in people. Beauty fades. Period. That gorgeous girl will eventually change. Make sure there’s more there than meets the eye, or someday there will be nothing left.
44. Take sex seriously. It’s the biggest of deals, the most important of decisions. Bad things come to those who take it lightly.
45. Make your faith your own. Real faith can move mountains in your life. Don’t take on my faith, I had to fight for mine. Battle for your own and you won’t be sorry in those days of adversity.
46. Keep a journal. Even if you only write in it once a month. Be honest about what you write. You’re writing to the old man you will become, the man who will fondly review the lost details of his youth. You’ll want the unfiltered truth.
47. Evaluate the path you chose. There will come a day when you’ll feel like everything in your life is caving in on you. Just remember: If you are walking down the wrong path, sometimes the quickest way to the right one is to go back. Pressing forward is not always the best way to handle hardship.
48. Find a hairstyle that suits you. After the age of 21, the shag just won’t cut it. (And don’t stick with the haircut in Tip #22 either.)
49. Learn how to iron your shirts properly. Nothing can ruin a job interview like a wrinkly shirt.
50. Memorize every word to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man and play it often once I’m gone.
Originally published: WeAreGlory.com
Photo source: Mother & son by Jason Lander, licensed under CC 2.0
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