Recently when Zoe turned 21, I shared these 21 thoughts. They are not principles, they are not rules and they are not parental advice.

  1. Don’t worry, before you actually have to.
  2. Trust people. Most are not bad. Talk to strangers.
  3. Maximize laughing – try to avoid people without a sense of humour
  4. Take your vitamins. Stay fit. Health is your Nr. 1 friend.
  5. Work out because you want to, not because you have too. Do the exercises you like. Get out!
  6. Give more than you take. It will always pay off. Always! Even if you don’t get immediately back what you desired in return.
  7. Take care of self first. Only then you can take care of others.
  8. Sleep is maybe overrated, but necessary. Take a pause when you need, and can. 
  9. Say yes before no. Can before can not. Surprise yourself.
  10. Never ever need we all think alike. Agree, or agree to disagree. Mutual respect is a must.
  11. Never stop learning. Period.
  12. The less you lie the less you have to remember. Truth is simple, but not always easy. White lies can be okay at times. Not everything needs to be said.
  13. Best way to complain is to make things (borrowed from James Murphy – LCD Soundsystem). Music is oil in the machine. Dance is fuel to the fire. Light it up.
  14. Surround yourself with younger ones. They are the future and rarely boring. Respect the elder. You walk on their work.
  15. Explore the borders. And go beyond. Your own thoughts and fears are your biggest limitations.
  16. Opposites are good. Love what you hate. See beauty. Learn to forgive.
  17. You can’t silence the voices in your head. But you can learn to turn them up and down. Take breaks.
  18. Plan the work. Work the plan. And if the plan ain’t working, rewrite and improvise. Improv is an art. Keep it real.
  19. Listen. Learn. Feel. Decide. Listen…
  20. Friends might come and go. Family stays. Keepers are friends who become like family. You’ll recognize them when you get invited in their homes, and when shared experiences form you both, oat the same time. “True friends are like stars – you only recognize them when it is dark around you” (Bob Marley).
  21. Today is a special day – it’s the first day of the rest of your live! 

They are more or less 21 behaviors that I have lived by, tried to live by or still pursue while meandering through life. Day by day. Like Iggy Pop sang; “I am a passenger. And I ride, and I ride, and I ride… La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la”.