Understanding Life
I recently received an email with the subject of 'Bill Gates's Rules for Teenagers.' I am fairly certain he didn't write them, but several hold a lot of truth.
- Life is not fair
The more quickly someone learns this the better off they are. A corollary to this: it is not the government's job to make life fair. Many adults still do not understand this point. - The world does not care about your self esteem
You must accomplish something before you feel good about what you have done. Professor Roy F. Baumeister of Florida State conducted a study that found inmates had the highest self esteem of any subgroups of American population. "High self-esteem people tend to have little self control when thingsare not going their way… They appear to have no respect for anyone else." Romans 12:3 says "…Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought." - If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Enough said. - Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not
This relates to the psychobabble about hurting a kids self-esteem. Many little league sports no longer keep score. You need to learn how to lose. In life you are not going to come out on top all the time (actually most of the time you are not). You learn a lot more when you lose than when you win. - Television is NOT real life.
"In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs." - Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
Hard work to support yourself rather than taking the fruits of labor from someone else is never undignified. You do what it takes to take care of your family. If that means three jobs and eating beanie-weenies, then so be it.
We have developed into a me-first, I-deserve-it, it's-not-my-fault, the-governement-should-do-it society.
Dickran Gobalian
Dickran Gobalian (if that is indeed his real name) has been called 'the most famous non-famous American musician.' Those that are familiar with Mr. Gobalian know him better as the Panama hat wearing, baritone voiced, guitar playing, Leon Redbone. 
Mr. Redbone rose to prominence during the 1970s in Toronto and later as a frequent guest on NBC's Saturday Night Live. Rolling Stone magazine did a feature article on him in 1974 - a full year before he got his first recording contract. If you still can't recall Mr. Redbone and you are at least 30 years old, check out the YouTube videos of his Budweiser commercials. That will certainly jar your memory.
Mr. Redbone seems to relish in the mystery surrounding his background once saying: 'This mystery about me is something I should bottle and sell to the public. It seems to be the way I communicate with people.'
Check out his discography on his official site.
