The Last 4 Years

As another FIFA World Cup passes us by and memories of Zidane's head-butt move aside in our minds to make room for David Villa's smiles and Iker Casillas's tears (and great saves), I have to ask my self (apart from "Am I REALLY four years older?") what I've done these past four years and what that has taught me. Obviously, my life has changed a lot since then. Just the other day, I realized that on the day of the last world cup final, I was supposed to go out to celebrate a close friend's birthday. Now, I am not even friends with that person anymore.

I guess the biggest achievement would be that I've graduated from college and starting working full time, i.e. I've become a somewhat responsible adult. As much as I like my job, I understand now how it feels to just want a nice long vacation. So I guess what I would really like to do is send a few lessons to my 19-year-old self from four years ago, in hopes that some other 19-year-old will somehow come across these words and be enlightened, or at least wonder over the words of someone four years older.

1. Don't hurt others for personal gain. Don't lie, don't cheat. Be honest and straight forward. Gaining something by hurting another person will not bring happiness. I've heard that my whole life, but didn't fully grasp the lesson until faced with the decision. Of course, I made the wrong one, and to this day, I feel bad about it.

2. Do your homework. It's annoying and you could be doing something much more fun, but slacking will not get you anywhere. "God is in the details." I'm not religious, but I do realize that the big picture consists of many details; if the details are bad, the big picture will be bad. Homework, and any other small and annoying "must-do" is like the details.

3. Some people are simply not worth your time, and no matter how hard you try, some people will never consider you worth their time. As infinite as time is, it is also precious. Don't waste it.

4. An IBM ThinkPad lasts forever. I got mine in 2005 and it's still working.

At the risk of sounding old, I'm going to stop with the advice here. Also, I honestly cannot remember ALL the things I've learned in the last four years these just happen to stand out. As for my goals for the next four, I'm still trying to figure those out. Having broken my new year's resolution to not over-think by January 2nd, I've been pondering what I want from my life in the next few years. One thing that stands out is seeing Christiano Ronaldo swap jerseys with David Villa in Brazil with my close friends next to me enjoying the view as well.

Congratulations Spain!