Candid Creations

So early it’s still almost dark out.
I’m near the window with coffee,
and the usual early morning stuff
that passes for thought.

When I see the boy and his friend
walking up the road
to deliver the newspaper.

They wear caps and sweaters,
and one boy has a bag over his shoulder.
They are so happy
they aren’t saying anything, these boys.

I think if they could, they would take
each other’s arm.
It’s early in the morning,
and they are doing this thing together.

They come on, slowly.
The sky is taking on light,
though the moon still hangs pale over the water.

Such beauty that for a minute
death and ambition, even love,
doesn’t enter into this.

Happiness. It comes on
unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,
any early morning talk about it.

When you feel stressed, or slightly depressed, do you have an inner strength strategy you can turn to? And when you may feel worried, unsure, anxious or afraid, what kind of inner dialogue do you project in the face of this “gloom and doom parade”?

Affirmations are great. Positive self suggestion is great. But, following the suggestion is what adds up to the real uplift to life.

Then life will be filled with the spirit that can face up, brace up, act up and succeed! And so, enjoy, prosper - and thrive:

1.) ” ‘Tomorrow’ can stretch into years - If you can do it now, just dig in and — Do It!”

2.) “What are you afraid of?’Uhh, well, I uh, I don’t know if I can do it’, you might say. Ok. That doesn’t mean you ‘can’t’, it just means you don’t know if you can … How do you come to know if you can? You find out! Go ahead, my friend — Find Out!!”

3.) “Are you a tree who needs a ‘forest’? Or, are you willing to stand alone?”

4.) “Where you start off from isn’t the issue - Where you ultimately finish is.”

5.) Let the REAL You Shine (for women) “And there’s a real you within your heart, just waiting to come ahead now … And she’s as capable as she is commanding — How does she come to touch your life, indeed, become your life? Be yourself, believe in yourself, and follow through with what you feel and know is right in your heart. You’ll find this real you within will never disappoint you; she’ll just do what is right, and what is needed to come through for you always!”

6.) A NEW Beauty “Your beauty is also in your touch, your sensitivity, your compassion, your smile, your good and positive thoughts sent out toward others, your willingness to do as you would be done by — and the warm and genuine feelings you harbor, and freely extend outward toward others … And so you see, beauty is not just ‘skin deep’; beauty is truly soul deep

7.) “Along the way you will find strength, you will find and develop ability; you will come to know power and you will come to find ever more of yourself. As the journey continues, so will the finding.”

8.) “Push yourself from within, and keep on pushing ‘til you arrive - For the only way to get what you say you’re after, is to work, stay ‘hungry’…and to strive!”

9.) “I can do no wrong through striving to advance, to improve, and masterfully triumph; I can only do wrong, if I don’t!”

10.) “You may not be as powerful as you ultimately want to be … But you’re certainly strong enough — Right NOW!”

11.) What Do THEY Know? “Do birds worry about what they’ll eat each day - or if they’ll eat? Do they worry about where they’ll roost each day - or where to go if and when it rains? Do they worry about how, and where to build their nest - or if they’ll be able to adequately provide for their offspring? Worry? Hey - birds start off each day singing - don’t they! What do you think birds understand that you don’t?!”

12.) “Hey if life were truly so ‘impossible’ and tough, you would have ‘given up’ by now wouldn’t you! But you haven’t. And in the back of your mind, there’s still the desire that things, and you, can change, the hope that they will, and the willingness to do what you can, so they will. What do you think this tells you about life, and YOU?!”

So uplift and achieve for the best for ‘YOU’

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99 If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh never mind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.

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.

Do one thing everyday that scares you Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents; you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you’re 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.