Simple Man

"...and be a simple kind of man...be something you love and understand." -Van Zant

Listed here is 22 years of wisdom. Read it. Use it. Pay it forward.

*Don't just ask if they are okay. Engage. Ask personal questions. Deliver your questions in a friendly manner by sitting close, but don't look directly at them too much. Dig a little bit to show care, and make your moment together brief.

*Remember that some days are good and some days are bad. The goal is to try and wear a smile the next time the sun comes up. Make sure it's a real smile. Think of reasons why you should be happy.

*Talk. Introduce with warmth. Nothing hyper or too excited, just calm and nice.

*Be clean. Dress to impress.

*Stand up for what you believe in, but pick your battles. Your natural reaction is never wrong. If you hesitate however, then continue to have a conscious, open mind.

*Be yourself. Do not try to benefit from other peoples' style. Conversation is not style, but how you deliver it is.

*Know that you can make people like you by being 'cool', but you can make people remember you by smiling. Words can be funny, but a smile-your action-is what makes you, not your words. So smile.

*When nature gives you a breath of fresh air, breathe it. You may not feel like you deserve it, but take it anyway. You might need it later.

*Above all, make people remember you for you kindness. A personal letter never hurts, and it goes a lot further than a joke told last month.

*Try to owe nothing to anyone. Not even yourself. Pay your debts.

*Balance all things in life, but don't intentionally seek bad things. Life will present you with enough.

*Laughter is a powerful tool. Don't use it to build another person's pain. Instead, use it to rebuild the world's heart again.

*Seek solitude for the mind. It does good to reflect.

*When all else fails, believe in yourself. That should be your biggest strength. Use others to fill your emptiness. Happily accept them into your life, and should they abandon you owe them nothing but your love for when they come back with sincere forgiveness and a changed dao. (Way of Life)

*Do not dwell on the things you don't have. Instead only think about what you do have and work with it.

*Embarrassment, shame, regret, pain, scars, fear. These are life's way of teaching. They are the natural balance in life that keep us from making the same mistake twice. Have them. Know them. Learn from them. Know that they will continue to exist, but also know that they are not the teacher. They are the punishment. The best thing you can do to heal from them is to never allow them to come back into your life.

*Never give up. Know your capabilities, but never give up.

*Forgive yourself. Everyone's forgiveness is on hold until you forgive yourself.

*Do not stare. Do not give looks. Judge, but do not dwell on your resolve.

*Do not ever think yourself better, faster, stronger, wiser, or smarter. Do better, but do not think yourself better.

*Do not lie. Life's punishments await those who lie.

*Do not manipulate to gain for yourself, only for others.

*Know what makes you weak. See it. Study it. Remember it. Then one day overwhelm it with strength.

*Truly. Money can buy you many things, but it cannot give you anything. Only life can do that.

*Record your life, because one day you will forget the details. Life without the details is like a vague dream. Eventually you will want to look back and know that you did more than just dream.

*Do not travel and consume. (eat) It is dangerous for you health. Besides, food is from life. Do not distract yourself with the travel when life is right in front of you.

*Be a man of principle. For without something to stand for you are not man.

*Seek good mentors. Gain their wisdom. Leave the mentors who did you wrong and do not take their advice without the counsel of you better mentors.

*When you are wise enough to lead the mentors who lead you, do so with respect. Do not misunderstand them with ignorance. Help them with the knowledge they gave you.

*Have a skill. Make yourself too valuable to get rid of. If the skill you have then also makes you happy, then live life.

*Know what you are worth.

*Using drugs harms you and those who care about you. It's like falling on your own sword, and then demanding your loved ones to do the same.

*If you can't tell those closest to you, then it is not worth doing.

*Secrets can be a burden. Have someone you can share them with.

*Understand that losing a love is like never loving at all.

*Seal all loose ends. Never leave life with anything unsaid. Be wise with your choices in the first place, and own up to what is the right thing to do in the end.

*Always leave with I Love You. You never know when it might be your last chance.

*"Read & Run." -Will Smith. These are keys to success.

*If you become powerful then be kind. Do your duty in all things, but with calmness and an open mind.

*If your duty is for the greater good, do it. If you have promised a duty for the greater good, fulfill it.

*Early is on time. On time is late.

*"Do, or do not. There is not try." - Master Yoda

*Do not spend your day preparing to live.

At last.

...and then when at last I have seen the seas, and have made my presents known to friends in cities

along the cost,

the very same that are building to building close

with a sense of familiarity shining off every bit of wet pavement, I continue.

I won't need to even look ahead. I'll know the long roads that take me out in the country side. My fingers will touch the tall grass all the way to the mountain's base where I will begin my climb, and when I get to the other side I will look back to say, "Yes, I can." Like any good story though, I'm not quite ready to reread the last chapter, 'less I lose myself in time, so I read on. Yet, somehow, I read all the way to that divine place I've been before. Autumn leaves there are the most beautiful, and the sun is always golden.

Down the stone stairway,

overlooking the all the world I've ever known,

I take a deep breath of life, and whisper,

"I'm home."

My Dear Friend,

My dear friend,

It has been some time now, but before we sit to chitchat and before we reminisce about all the years back Let me allow you to remember your purest thought, which glistens in the right light, staining each of your leaves with word play or else honesty if not Remember now, what is written here cannot be undone You remember that if it is not all just for fun You remember that what you have to say, to my dismay can pierce like a bullet from a gun The sharp words chosen without any form of discretion tug and pull tight on the heart strings of my worldly possession. I promise here that I'm not just rhyming Driving further from the point I'm trying to convey, and just not finding. The truth is that I'm lost at times. That. Is. The. Truth. That perhaps I've lost something, or maybe I'm just burdened By what then? The ink from my pen wonders. Only my hand can tell as I continue to ponder. For a moment I wonder If I'm creating this thought after thought All here in my head When in fact I know I'm not I often think about it before going to bed. What then?! The end of my paper begs. Is it my grades? My life? My direction? My unhealthy obsession?! I know now that it is none of these. What it really is is this uncertainty.. It is as though I'm at the lost and found, and there I find nothing and all it says is lost... Is this so bad? No. I suppose not All this means is that I am alive and that I get to live each day with you! Hi 5! Now that is the small smile I was hoping to find in the pages of this confession. To me or to you, let this be a lesson. Hopefully one that we will never forget. To live each day Together and never regret.