The Top Ten Lessons of 2010

First of all, happy 2011 to everybody. I have been away for a while, and I know this is unacceptable but I will make it up to you. I promise. I'll even cross my heart and all other 4th grade playground talk that confirms our unbreakable oath. With the end of the previous year, everyone is busy doing their New Year's Resolutions and promising themselves to be overall better this year. Since I have been deemed as "unique","original", and "just plain fucking weird" from birth I decided to do something different for the beginning of the year. Let's look back and see what exactly Rio has learned in these past 12 months.

Lesson #10: Work Hard, Play Hard

Pretty obvious rule here. The reason I include this is that people can't seem to avoid extremes, and this lesson is not an exception. I either meet "sweet-awesome" partiers that can't handle the real world or the extremely annoying and up-tight workaholics. Prioritize the things you enjoy in life; your movies, TV, music, sports, blah blah blah. These things are important to keep yourself loose and flexible, you lose focus when you are stressed and anxious which then only leads to bad decisions and sloppy work.

Lesson #9: Agree to Disagree

Unanimous agreement on any topic at any given point of time is highly improbable. Politics, religion, scientific theories, and even what movie to watch tonight will be questioned by someone in your group. To this fact I have no doubts, since I have even had a discussion of how a sandwich should be made during class. Yet if we make an honest effort (key word: honest) to understand what the other person is saying, then mutual respect can be found. With respect, then we can appreciate any ideas different to our own, even if we disagree to the point of death.

Lesson #8: Attitude is Everything

Battles have been won and lost on morale and determination. Switch in "I AM THE FUCKING MAN (or WOMAN)" instead of "what's wrong with me? i can't believe i'm like this...no body loves me...". See what happens? You literally tear yourself to pieces and you end up with nothing, nada, zip, zilch. Whether you will succeed or fail will rest on how often you can raise your head and tackle the task at hand. Another suggestion for your line to yell is anything from the movie "300"...

THIS

IS

SPARTAAAAA

Lesson #7: Change your methods to Change your results

This quote comes to mind; "To have something you have never had before, you must do something you have never done before". Ah, so true and yet so hard to implement. You must either hold your nose or tighten your belt, because you are neither too high or too low for any activity that will benefit you. If the goals you place before you are that important, then you have give them the proper dedication they deserve. Do not be afraid to be compete and win, and do not be aloof to the needs of others in your journey to succeed.

Lesson #6: There is no substitute for hard work

"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"

"...Practice"

The person who truly succeeds in any field is the person who has put in the most time and effort. You don't open your arms and hope that the sky will dump a best-selling book for you to publish. Certainly you don't expect an attractive lover in a package to come randomly through the mail (would be lots of fun, yet still a tad bit awkward). To that effect, if you want something, go get it, and keep at it until you do. Plain and simple as that.

Lesson #5: Dreams come and go, but Passion is forever

If there is something in your life that brings you joy and benefits you, then whatever it is; good for you. This activity/object/person is great. And if this thing is all of the above and you can't imagine a single day of your life without it, then we have a case of passion. Passion refers to whatever has carved a space in your heart/soul/being/other names for your existence, and it can not be removed easily if at all. Little kids always declare that one day they are going to be an astronaut, then a doctor, then a race car driver. As you get older, you realize what is truly important to you, what you are truly passionate about. You can't fight the feeling and good luck trying to get rid of it, so I only suggest we embrace our passions and try to incorporate them as much as possible in our lives.

Lesson #4: Family Love

The members of your family (either blood or not) are always going to be your source of support and loyalty. These are the people you can trust, the people you can always let in and talk about what is on your mind, and most importantly the people you can depend on in times of crisis. True friends, parents, and your siblings will have your back and they will always hope for the best in your life.

Lesson #3: Liberty with Responsibility

This one is difficult for people to wrap their minds around (including me, though I have improved on it this year *makes peace sign*). The more liberty you have and demand, the more responsibilities you must take on as a direct result. You want to live on your own? You have rent to pay, utilities to not overuse, and roommates to deal with. Have a car? You know the drill; insurance, maintenance, and gas. There is always a correlation between personal liberty and the things you are obligated to do to maintain that level of benefits. Too many people of my age group naturally assume that they have can have it all, but don't want to do anything to keep it all. You want a strong economy and job market in this country AND have benefits when you are older? Well the money has to come from somewhere, so don't look at me that way when I say that we need more taxes to get rid of the deficit. To quote Spiderman: "With great power, comes great responsibility".

Lesson #2: Priorities are essential

How you organize your life can and will decide whether you are happy or frustrated. Are you accomplishing all that you want to accomplish? Or are you just flopping around, doing nothing, and getting pissed off at yourself for doing nothing? Your priorities are the foundation of the direction your life will take. What is important, what is essential, and what is not so much have to be determined by you. Nobody else can tell you what is the most important thing in your life, and nobody else is going to remind you that you have to focus on the essentials and not on the distractions (Facebook, Angry Birds, Youtube, your girlfriend...what? oh that's my distraction :P).

And finally,

(drum-roll please)

Lesson #1: Every action has a CONSEQUENCE

You choose your successes and failures. What you decide to do or not do will affect the future, keep that in mind. Don't cut corners today, saying you'll make it up tomorrow because life doesn't work that way. Time marches on. Don't stop yourself from making that crazy life-changing decision because you are too scared. Regret stays around for a long time people! When taking action, pause, and ask "is this going to benefit me in the future?". If so, go for it and if not, forget it immediately.

...Unless it has to do with food, food is a game-changer. Anddd sex.

So yeah, make good choices folks. If you made so not-so-good ones in 2010, you now have 2011 to make all better again. That and you should blog about the not-so-good ones, get some readers and laughs out of it. Go for gold.