The Adventure of the Twenty-Eight Years
Life for all of us is very much up in the air at the moment and whilst I will be writing about that at some point it's nice to think about other things once in a while. Last week I turned twenty-eight and I decided it might be fun to list twenty-eight things I've learnt in those twenty-eight years.
Some are silly, some are profound and some are pointless trivia. In no particular order, here we go...
1: Try to be useful
I've discussed this before but for a while I've followed a concept I read about in astronaut Chris Hadfield's book. He divides every person into a +1, a 0 or a -1. You should aim to be a 0. If you go around thinking you are a +1 then everyone will hate you and you are probably really a -1. Therefore in whatever situation you find yourself in you should aim to be a 0 and not have a negative impact on the overall goal and if you do this you will likely end up being a +1.
2: Don't worry about what other people think
There are always people who will criticise what you do but the most important judge is you. You always no internally if you are doing the right thing and if you should listen to yourself and not your critics who will only bring you down.
3: Michael Caine was the first person to hear the theme to Goldfinger
He shared a flat with composer Monty Norman at the time.
4: Always check your wing mirror when opening car door
5: When joining a dual carriageway, check in front and behind
This comes from bitter experience and resulted in my last car being scrapped. In limited visibility I had a good look at the oncoming traffic and was happy nothing was approaching but failed to check if anyone else was joining the dual carriageway in front of me. Cue a massive crash.
6: A mnemonic for "necessary" is 'never eat cakes, eat salad sandwiches and remain young'.
7: There's a mysterious ingredient that makes me feel great which can only be found in fish pies.
I don't know what it is and eating normal fish doesn't give me the same vibes as a fish pie does.
8: Pizzas (excluding those with pineapple on) are the best food ever invented.
9: Never eat too much Haribo in one sitting.
If you eat a huge quantity of Haribo are similar sweets you will discover that they have a similar effect to laxatives.
10: Never let a friend cut your hair at 3AM.
This perhaps seems like an obvious statement but when I mentioned needing a haircut and a friend mentioned they cut their father's hair, it seemed like a good idea. The layers in my hair proved challenging and when I sort help from a professional hairdresser it was quite difficult to fix.
11: Alcohol makes be vomit.
I don't know why but once I've had a few drinks I will likely feel like I need to be sick. The more drinks, the more vomit there is.
12: Frankenstein is the creator and not the monster.
13: The best film ever made is 12 Angry Men.
14: Things will always get better.
Even the worst situation is only temporary and sooner or later things will improve.
15: All people are equal but for some reason few people agree.
We like to consider ourselves an equal world but it's incredible just how many people are sexist or homophobic or racist in some way or another. I treat all human beings on who they are as a person, not what they look like or who they love.
16: Most vegetables are disgusting.
Obviously we really should eat vegetables but I hate most of them. Carrots and parsnips are great, the rest suck.
17: First impressions are usually correct
They always say "never judge a book by it's cover" but I've found that how you feel to a person when you first meet them rarely changes as you get to know them.
18: Doing things for you is vital. Being selfish is OK sometimes.
19: Toilets are great hiding places
I'm not talking about hide and seek. If you need a few minutes escape from the world you can go and hide in a toilet some place. When I was fifteen I avoided an entire double music lesson by hiding in a toilet cubicle and no-one noticed.
20: I'm better at some things than others.
Give me a writing task and I'll do a decent job of it but ask me to untie a knot or sew something and it will be a disastor.
21: Ask for help when needed.
This is hugely important. Ask other people to do the little things you find hard for you but also when you are having a difficult time, ask sometime for help and it almost always results in things improving.
22: Drunk people probably don't fancy you.
Beer goggles are very much a thing.
23: The first webcam live streamed a coffee machine.
24: Do a source analysis on any information you see.
This comes from studying history to a reasonable level but I think it's a skill that needs to be more widely taught in the modern world. Every time you see a piece of information you should look at where it comes from, who wrote it and for what purpose and with a bit of practice you can assess how genuine things you read actually are.
25: Getting outside can make a huge difference.
Never underestimate how positive some time in nature can be.
26: Record your life.
Don't do this so that you miss the moment but taking photos or videos and/or writing a journal is great and gives you the opportunity to record far more than your memory can.
27: Invest in a good bed/mattress/sheets.
We spend so much of our time in bed so we really ought to be comfy there.
28: Have plans but constantly adapt them.
This isn't right for everyone but I like to plan things but I also recognise things change and as they do plans needs adapting. I feel so lost if I start a day and don't have any sort of plan at all.
This exercise made me feel like some sort of guru and ended up being far more serious than I'd originally intended. I'll be back next week and it looks like I will be able to stick to a weekly schedule for the foreseeable future. See you then and stay healthy.
Some are silly, some are profound and some are pointless trivia. In no particular order, here we go...
1: Try to be useful
I've discussed this before but for a while I've followed a concept I read about in astronaut Chris Hadfield's book. He divides every person into a +1, a 0 or a -1. You should aim to be a 0. If you go around thinking you are a +1 then everyone will hate you and you are probably really a -1. Therefore in whatever situation you find yourself in you should aim to be a 0 and not have a negative impact on the overall goal and if you do this you will likely end up being a +1.
2: Don't worry about what other people think
There are always people who will criticise what you do but the most important judge is you. You always no internally if you are doing the right thing and if you should listen to yourself and not your critics who will only bring you down.
3: Michael Caine was the first person to hear the theme to Goldfinger
He shared a flat with composer Monty Norman at the time.
4: Always check your wing mirror when opening car door
5: When joining a dual carriageway, check in front and behind
This comes from bitter experience and resulted in my last car being scrapped. In limited visibility I had a good look at the oncoming traffic and was happy nothing was approaching but failed to check if anyone else was joining the dual carriageway in front of me. Cue a massive crash.
6: A mnemonic for "necessary" is 'never eat cakes, eat salad sandwiches and remain young'.
7: There's a mysterious ingredient that makes me feel great which can only be found in fish pies.
I don't know what it is and eating normal fish doesn't give me the same vibes as a fish pie does.
8: Pizzas (excluding those with pineapple on) are the best food ever invented.
9: Never eat too much Haribo in one sitting.
If you eat a huge quantity of Haribo are similar sweets you will discover that they have a similar effect to laxatives.
10: Never let a friend cut your hair at 3AM.
This perhaps seems like an obvious statement but when I mentioned needing a haircut and a friend mentioned they cut their father's hair, it seemed like a good idea. The layers in my hair proved challenging and when I sort help from a professional hairdresser it was quite difficult to fix.
11: Alcohol makes be vomit.
I don't know why but once I've had a few drinks I will likely feel like I need to be sick. The more drinks, the more vomit there is.
12: Frankenstein is the creator and not the monster.
13: The best film ever made is 12 Angry Men.
14: Things will always get better.
Even the worst situation is only temporary and sooner or later things will improve.
15: All people are equal but for some reason few people agree.
We like to consider ourselves an equal world but it's incredible just how many people are sexist or homophobic or racist in some way or another. I treat all human beings on who they are as a person, not what they look like or who they love.
16: Most vegetables are disgusting.
Obviously we really should eat vegetables but I hate most of them. Carrots and parsnips are great, the rest suck.
17: First impressions are usually correct
They always say "never judge a book by it's cover" but I've found that how you feel to a person when you first meet them rarely changes as you get to know them.
18: Doing things for you is vital. Being selfish is OK sometimes.
19: Toilets are great hiding places
I'm not talking about hide and seek. If you need a few minutes escape from the world you can go and hide in a toilet some place. When I was fifteen I avoided an entire double music lesson by hiding in a toilet cubicle and no-one noticed.
20: I'm better at some things than others.
Give me a writing task and I'll do a decent job of it but ask me to untie a knot or sew something and it will be a disastor.
21: Ask for help when needed.
This is hugely important. Ask other people to do the little things you find hard for you but also when you are having a difficult time, ask sometime for help and it almost always results in things improving.
22: Drunk people probably don't fancy you.
Beer goggles are very much a thing.
23: The first webcam live streamed a coffee machine.
24: Do a source analysis on any information you see.
This comes from studying history to a reasonable level but I think it's a skill that needs to be more widely taught in the modern world. Every time you see a piece of information you should look at where it comes from, who wrote it and for what purpose and with a bit of practice you can assess how genuine things you read actually are.
25: Getting outside can make a huge difference.
Never underestimate how positive some time in nature can be.
26: Record your life.
Don't do this so that you miss the moment but taking photos or videos and/or writing a journal is great and gives you the opportunity to record far more than your memory can.
27: Invest in a good bed/mattress/sheets.
We spend so much of our time in bed so we really ought to be comfy there.
28: Have plans but constantly adapt them.
This isn't right for everyone but I like to plan things but I also recognise things change and as they do plans needs adapting. I feel so lost if I start a day and don't have any sort of plan at all.
This exercise made me feel like some sort of guru and ended up being far more serious than I'd originally intended. I'll be back next week and it looks like I will be able to stick to a weekly schedule for the foreseeable future. See you then and stay healthy.
Comments
Post a Comment