If I were 21 again:

1. I would give 20 minutes a day to exercise

2. I would study and strive to develop original thoughts.

3. I would steer my life by a few fundamental convictions.

4. I would begin life with a clear conviction concerning the infinite value of my soul in the presence of God.

5. I would seek to put quality into every thought, work, and deed. Ps 19:14

6. I would try to achieve some splendid success in a worthy area of effort. If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.

7. I would seek to crowd at least one act of kindness and self sacrifice into every 24 hours.

8. I would live in light of every great experience of my life; see evidences of God's love.

9. I would seek two or three choice friends among older people.

10. I would read my Bible everyday and I would seek to develop intamacy thru that with the Lord Jesus Christ.

11. I would learn to identify myself with great, though unpopular causes. Real greatness is always going against the tide.

12. I would train myself to recognize beauty in life.

13. I would surrender my life unconditionally to the Lord Jesus Christ.

-- (bygrace@thru.faith), July 26, 2000

Answers

Hmmmm... I seem to detect a note of regret in your post. Just because you're not twenty-one any more doesn't mean your life is at an end. Stop living in the past and start living in the now, after all, it's the only thing we really have.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), July 26, 2000.

Do all these now, no matter what your age!

-- Livin life large (never die@live forever.com), July 26, 2000.

If I were 21 again, I'd fantasize about being 17 again.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), July 26, 2000.

If I were 21 again, I would definitely have more sex.

-- Tarzan the Ape Man (tarzan@swingingthroughthejunglewithouta.net), July 27, 2000.

If I were 21 again:

I doubt that I would have more sex - but I would certainly try harder.

-- (retired@nd.happy), July 27, 2000.

If I were 21 again:

I would pray to Ra, Isis, Ptah, The God of the Israelites, The Buddha, Christ, Shiva, Montezuma, The Emperor of Japan, The Tooth Fairy, Kali.

It is never too early to start covering all bases.

-- (retired@nd.happy), July 27, 2000.

If I were 21 again...

I would have to kill myself *grin* I hated that age. I like where I am right now and hopefully it will only get better!

Mar.

-- Not now, not like this (AgentSmith0110@aol.com), July 27, 2000.

This is quite a list. Personally, I wouldn't have changed a thing...even to the point of getting married too early, etc. We learn through our mistakes in life and it's those mistakes that make us who we are today. My SO occasionally says things like, "I wish I would have met you BEFORE I wasted all those years on that OTHER woman." My response is always the same,"You probably wouldn't have liked me, and I probably wouldn't have liked YOU." It took a long road to get us to who we are today.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), July 27, 2000.

Yeah, 21 is kind of a drag. You're surrounded by a great number of silly post-adolescent peer pressures and fads that you probably find rather tiresome, but at the same time you are rarely looked upon as a peer or a friend by older folks who are probably jelous of you. To have any kind of social life at all, you have to be up half the night, so you're likely to be in something of a daze. If you haven't found a sweetheart, chances are you are insecure and wondering what the hell is wrong with you. If you HAVE, chances are you are always worring if she's (or he) just trying you on like a new fashion or flavor.

Yeah, i suppose you might have been in better physical shape at 21, but you probably lack the financial means and resources (ie., cars) to truly tap that extra energy into life-fulfilling experiences like travel, hiking, or adventures. You are likely to be poor and people are likely to think you are an inarticulate idiot simply because of your youthful appearance and lack of confidence.

You are probably rather timid about the future, not knowing what you are capable of or if you are "underachieving" or "overachieving" to get where you want to be. You haven't a clue of whether you will end up like Bill Gates or the guy on the corner, pandhandling. This is excitement, to be sure, but often leads to intense anxiety.

People are telling you all the time that these are the best days of your life. Meanwhile they may convince you that a credit card with a huge limit and a 20% annual rate is a good idea so you can get a taste of what life is like for more established people. On every corner somebody is trying to use your eagerness to overwork and "get one's foot in the door" or rip you off.

In general, in spite of what all the teeny-bopper pop culture will have you believe, being young is pretty much a bum deal.

It gets much much better though. Still, I wouldn't wish to be 21 for all the tea in China, all the dope in New York, all the rain in London.

-- coprolith (jacothecat@yahoo.com), July 27, 2000.

Cop and Anita,

Me too. I like who I am now and that's what matters. My regrets don't matter.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), July 27, 2000.

If I was 21 again, there would be some serious trouble going on with the Space-Time- Continume.

-- e (einstine@faster-than-light.com), July 27, 2000.

I have always liked you, coprolith. I noticed you don't post over at The Gov't of the U.S. forum anymore.

-- aqua (aqu@fin.a), July 28, 2000.

No regrets, but IF I were 21 I'd like to kick Patdoesntcharges ASS.

Actually I am quite capable now, but, hey cant kick what hides :-0

xoxo, not in hiding sumer

-- consumer (shh@aol.com), July 28, 2000.

Hey, you guys are all old farts.

-- (sweetsixteen@neverbeen.satisfied), July 29, 2000.

we might be old farts compared to you, but at least we've been satisfied

-- (dontforget@your.condoms), July 29, 2000.

I have always liked you, coprolith. I noticed you don't post over at The Gov't of the U.S. forum anymore.

-- aqua (aqu@fin.a), July 28, 2000.

That's because I have too much to do these days and don't want to be mistaken for some kind of nutty revolutionary. Such things do not mix well with success in life and happy marriage. Now that we are not currently bombing (well not HEAVILY bombing, anyway) a foreign country, my head has cooled off to a degree.

If anything I said in that venue was inflammatory, it is only because I hate the use of maximum brute force when other alternatives present. Naturally I apply this ethic to myself, and so am constrained by higher moral standards than the people who spend my tax money.

I support the libertarian ideal. But meaningful change is a slow process filled with compromises and setbacks. It can only be measured in decades. Sudden change always has a backlash. As technology and prosperity increase everyone's autonomy, libertarian practices will grow naturally out of the reality.

oh well babbling again. gotta go.

jon

-- coprolith (jacothecat@yahoo.com), July 30, 2000.

If I were 21 again, I would've gotten addicted to something more healthful than Dew and Moon Pies... (No RC Cola around here).

-- (kb8um8@yahoo.com), July 30, 2000.

Well, I don't know about being 21.

I mean it was nice, but I gotta tell you, sex is really great, now that I'm over the hill. I mean it; sex is better now than ever.

I particularly like the one in the winter.

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-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), July 30, 2000.

LOL Lon,

Being 21 was great, same for 31, 41, and I'm looking forward to how great it will be at 51. I know a few ladies at all of the age ranges, and I have to admit the 50+ are just as soft and sweet as the 30'ish ladies, and one hell of a lot easyer to get along with... can anyone say PMS?... and a lot of the " older " Ladies are better looking than their younger counter parts, go figure :-)

-- Mr. Slippery (slip@slide.cum), July 30, 2000.

Again, I agree with Mr. Slippery. Why wouldn't I? [grin] I have a daughter who is 21, and I oftentimes wish I could send her to the Wizard of Oz for a brain. She has PLENTY of heart....no problem THERE. I was the same way at 21 [except I didn't have PMS]. BOTH of my daughters have PMS, so either it's not associated with a gene, or they got the PMS gene from their father [who's been "on the rag" all his life, save for the 3 months in which we dated.] Forgive my colloquialism, bygrace. I've been busy all weekend playing Sisyphus, and I'm not in the mood to be politically correct.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), July 30, 2000.

if I were 21 again, I would start saving for retirement. g*d, if only knew then what I know now. ed, 42, looking at a lousy retirement.

-- ed (edrider007@aol.com), July 30, 2000.

Again, I agree with Mr. Slippery.

I must have missed it... busy you know :-)

I have a daughter who is 21, and I oftentimes wish I could send her to the Wizard of Oz for a brain.

You have one of them Too?... mine's 22, my Grand Daughter is 3.

I was the same way at 21 [except I didn't have PMS

Anita, please publish your case... you'll be a first in all recorded history :-)

-- Mr. Slippery (slip@slide.cum), July 31, 2000.

Well, Mr. Slippery:

I must confess that I stated once/month "Nobody likes me." As soon as someone said, "Aren't you about to get your period?", I replied, "Yes. Hmmm. THAT's why nobody likes me." That was about it. My daughters talk about moodiness, cramping, etc. I never experienced that. Since I'm of Northern European descent, I began menopause at 39. That's ANOTHER female malady of which men like to generalize. SO might say that I was crankier for a few years, but *I* would say that he'd pissed me off and I let him know.

We had a thread about menopause a while back, either before you entered the board or when you were using another name. There's not so much of a HORMONAL thing going on as there is a change of attitude. There's a realization that "I'm in midlife. Do I want the downhill slide to be the same as the uphill climb?" Men go through the same emotions, but they don't have the accompanying physical changes, short of being a bit slower on the uptake. [grin]

Life and age change us. I can never again be the submissive wife I was when I was 21. I wouldn't want to be if I COULD. My SO will never again be the debonair playboy of HIS youth. He satisfies this vacuum by driving a Mustang convertible. What works works. I know that sounds simplistic, but if you find a mate that can't accommodate submission in a person, and you can't tolerate submission yourself, you have a chance at a lifelong relationship....well, at least one that begins where it began.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), July 31, 2000.