Strucknwords

I love lists. I’m a bit OCD with them so when I run across writing or other material that presents itself in this form, I tend to gravitate towards it. Recently, I’ve run across two pieces of material that I wanted to share. I have always felt moving into summer is a time of reflection; this is simply a result of being an educator. The school calendar ends and you end up considering your impact, your strengths….the things you would never repeat, etc.

The first was an article from Outside magazine called 10 Timeless Fitness Laws. I thought this list was perfect for not only fitness, but life, and just as good as any resonating commencement speech except maybe it’s easier to remember:

 

1. Perfect the Push Up

2. Do It Right-or Stop Doing It

3. Drink, Baby, Drink

4. Eat a Quality Breakfast

5. Repeat After Us: I Will Eat Real Food

6. Feel Your Way to Faster

7. Lighten Up and Have Some Fun

8. Recover. No, Really: RECOVER

9. It’s Not All About the Bike, the Shoes, or the Compression Underwear

10. Never Stop Moving

 

 

The second was Tim Minchin’s UWA Address that he delivered in 2013. It was his advice for life:

 

 

 

 

1. You Don’t Have to Have a Dream to be Successful in Your Life: Sometimes what you should be focusing on rests in your peripheral vision

2. Don’t Seek Happiness: Keep Busy and Aim to Make Someone Else Happy

3. Remember, It’s All Luck: Empathy is Intuitive, but it is also something you can work on Intellectually

4. Exercise: The is a direct and positive correlation between depression and exercise

5. Be Hard On Your Opinions: Be Intellectually Rigorous and Identify your Prejudices, your Biases, your Privileges

6. Be a Teacher: Even if you’re not a teacher, be a Teacher. Share Your Ideas.

7. Define Yourself By What You Love: Instead of Spouting about what you hate or oppose, be pro-stuff instead of just anti-stuff

8. Respect People with Less Power than You

9. Don’t Panic

Tim says, “There is only one simple thing to do with this empty existence, and that is feel it, not fill it, FEEL it.”

If you want to hear the comedy that comes with all this advice: