Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young

I love Baz Luhrmann's song, "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen" (originally an essay "Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young" written by Mary Schmich and published in the Chicago Tribune as a column in 1997).  Ever since the song came out in 1998 I have been obsessed with it.  I listen to it several times a year, quote it often and sometimes sing it to myself when I am thinking something poor or trying to find the right words to get motivated.  It's a good reminder to people of my generation to see things are they really are, rather than in a skewed version of ignorance and innocence.

It goes a little something like this:





My favorite lines of the song/speech are (which are ever poignant today):

"Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth, oh never mind.  you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded, but trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you cant grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked."

"Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get,
the more you need the people you knew when you were young."

"What ever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either
your choices are half chance, so are everybody elses."

"Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday."