I recently crossed the finish line of my 27th year on earth (sans the womb).
I now enter my 28th year of life.
28 is a composite number with its proper divisors being 1, 2, 4, 7 and 14. 28 is a perfect number (it is the sum of its divisors [1+2+4+7+14=28]). The last time I was a perfect number I was 6. The next time I'll be a perfect number I'll be 496 years old, and I'll probably be nutrient rich soil by then. That or paved over for a sweet parking lot of a movie theater (or whatever they call it then) that will be showing Final Destination 2505. Holy piss that movie is going to rock.
Time to reflect on a thing or two that has driven me to such a perfect age. I'll spare the details I don't remember and stick to the last decade of life (18-28).
-In the last 10 years, I've managed to cure myself of Catholicism. This is one of the biggest accomplishments of my life, although it wasn't ever a direct motive of mine. Religion and god(s) had always been an easy out. If we don't have an answer, the answer must be god(s). I was soon finding out that there is a very definitive order to my world and beyond. Although I didn't (read: don't) always understand said order, I do know that it exists. Existence is bigger than me. I will never understand it all, but I should never cease to attempt to understand. Lesson: Nothing just is. Nothing is divine.
-In the last ten years I've discovered myself. The first 18 years I was often doing things in order to appease others (parents, friends, teachers, people that wanted to beat my ass, etc). I now have an understanding that "selfishness" is not a bad thing. It can lead to many undesirable consequences when acted upon with short sightedness, but it is also the only thing that makes a person who they are. A robot can perform tasks. Lesson: Be selfish with the wisdom of long term aspirations (read: don't be a dick).
-I started doing jiu jitsu to become a ninja. Sadly, my life as a contractor put the brakes on that idea. About a year ago I took part in a relay race in Seattle in order to be in a van of wild people that are always willing to laugh. The running part was just a thorn on the rose of good times. Since then, I have continued to run and work out. After getting over the "holy piss I'm going to die if I don't get oxygen soon" phase, I found that a routine of increased cardiovascular activity has benefited my life quite dramatically. I have more energy in and out of work. My attitude has improved drastically throughout the course of the day. And the greatest gem of all is that my sexual prowess has gone through the roof. Lesson: A little ninja goes a long way. Don't fall for lethargy.
-I have learned to work out my brain. Every day is a chance to become better. I don't mean this in a "smartest person wins" frame of mind. I mean PMA (positive mental attitude for the noobs). Each day you can work to avoid the emotions that release negative chemicals into the brain (fear, jealousy, anger, etc) and replace them with endorphin releasing emotions (laughter, accomplishment, sense of pride, friendship, etc). I've learned to practice logic and reason. To not jump on the first emotional impulse my brain fires at me (sentence fragment). We were all born with a set of "go to" reactions. With a little bit of practice each day, I can become the person I want to be, not the person I'm just going to default to. Lesson: Strive to be exceptional, not exceptionally right.
-In the last decade, I had sex with 5 different decades of women (teen, 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's). Lesson: No lesson really, just bragging. Wait...not sure if that is brag worthy. I guess it is just an exercise in PMA. Tsaoism for life!
