Things I wish to remember ten years from now

I’ve seen a lot of people writing about what they wish they had known when they where younger. This type of post / question seems to be very popular these days. It is often used to emphasize the level of knowledge and wisdom that a person has reached.

While I find that to be informative and interesting, I think that there is a far more interesting issue to be covered. And that is the opposite of the “what do you wish you had learned at an earlier age” question.

What do you know in the present and wish to remember – and believe in – ten years from now?

While the past is an important learning tool, I don’t pay too much attention to it. What happened happened. I enjoy living in the present and staring at the future.

There are so many concepts, ideas, tips and philosophies that are so useful and I wish I could remember them my whole life.

For example, people tend to assume higher risks in their twenties and lower risks in their thirties and later on. This leads to smaller success rates (in everything they do) and less satisfactions. I don’t want to give up risk-taking.

Also, people have a much higher confidence in their powers and are better at living in the moment when young.

Getting old usually means getting weaker, in all aspects. Mainly because you abandon your belief in most of the things you believed in as a young person.

Here are some things that I wish to remember and believe in, as I grow older:

• Life is made to be wonderful. Even the problems are good! They represent challenges, and facing a difficult challenge should always be exciting! “In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity”, said Albert Einstein. Only a weak personality give up in front of an important challenge; I don’t want to be weak, you don’t want to be weak, no one wants that. I want to be able to keep my current positive attitude!
• Smiling is a good habit. First impressions are very important, and a person’s smile is the window to that impression, with either a happy warm positive smile or a sad sheepish withdrawn one. In a recent study 92% of the people polled thought that a person’s smile can affect their careers. A beautiful positive smile makes people listen to you and respond in a positive way. It also influences your state of mind. Smiling doesn’t have to be abandoned as you grow older, on the contrary.
• Learning never stops and an open mind is crucial in the process. Science and knowledge are subject to changes and evolutions over time. A good example is the old theory the neurons cannot regenerate and that we are stuck with the number we were born with. That has been proven to be false. Princeton psychologist Elizabeth Gould has shown that neurons can regenerate. The reason this hadn’t been observed before is that the animals studied lived out their short lives in plain laboratory metal cages – this is like trying to get to a balanced understanding of human organisms by studying only the inmates of Auschwitz – . There is a large number of – mostly old – people that don’t want to accept this new theory, even if it’s obvious that it is true. I don’t want my thinking to become rigid as I grow older.
• One can live without (usual) job. I never considered having a boss, I never visualized myself as an employee. I’m 20 years old and until now I haven’t worked for a day in my life (for a stranger that is). I worked as a DJ for a while but together with some friends I rented the club in which I played, so I was my own boss. There are many ways to earn a living without sacrificing time and life for some corporation. I always stayed away from “normal” jobs.
• “The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning you’re not old.” – Rosalyn S. Yalow. This is somewhat connected with point number three. At this stage in my life the excitement of learning is at it’s peak, and I want to keep it close to this point for as long as possible.
• “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot. No comment on this one, the quote says it all too well.

These are some of the most important lessons that I’ve learned to this date, and I think that keeping them in my mind as I get older is very important.

I’m certain that each of you also have some things that you consider as being crucial to keep in mind for the future. Care to share them with other people? Please do, we might all learn something! The comments are all yours.