Here's a good example:
He declared this nugget of wisdom after we tried hugging eachother while each standing on one leg. It's hard to do. We fell over. Lesson learned. Good advice produced.
I don't have Alex's permission to display a photo of his image, because he's camping this weekend, and hence unavailable to sign off on my blog post, but I've always thought this window art kind of looked like him:
Other Good Advice can have this kind of simplicity, but have a much broader spectrum of application. An example of such came from a lovely man I dated my freshmen year of college, Tom.
Tom, like me, was extremely forgetful when it came to his personal effects. He said to me once, while carefully backing away from an ATM machine:
"Before you leave someplace, take a look around and make sure you have everything you came with."
-Tom
If you have ever left your ATM card inside an ATM machine, or left your wallet sitting on it's ledge, or left a shopping bag on the sidewalk beside it, (and admit it, you have), then really, you know that is terrific advice. It's plain, it's simple, and it's constantly useful. I consider it daily, and it's nice to think of lovely Tom when I do.
When it comes to good advice, thinking of the person that delivered it to you helps as much as the words themselves. For example, one of my very best friends, Kelly Warrington, told me when I was having one of my nervous fits about going away on some ridiculous travel adventure or another:
"Meg, keep your wits about you." - Kelly Warrington
Now, we've all heard that one before, but picturing Kelly, as her constantly classy and fabulous self when remembering this advice helps when applying it. Please experience this effect by saying these words in your head while viewing this picture of Kelly:
"(Your Name), keep your wits about you."
Got your wits about you? Of course you do. Thanks, Kelly.
Other pieces of Good Advice can be equally simple, but have very vague daily application. In fact, Good Advice may not actually be that useful, but still good to keep in mind. My friend Alpheus, who was one of my favorite eccentric buddies from Radford, Virginia, was full of stange ideas. We're talking about a guy that organized a basketball team for the intermural league, and named it "Steely Dan". It's been eleven years, and I still think that's funny. Anyway, when I left Radford, he wrote me in a farewell card:
"Go get 'em, Meg. You're a mammal." -Alpheus
True. Positive. Motivating...
...I'm still not totally sure what it means, but this is one of my favorite pieces of Good Advice ever.
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