Thursday Thirteen--13 principles of life

1. A clear conscience should never be confused with a bad memory.

2. Sweeping the room with a glance doesn't qualify as house cleaning.

3. Don't let it all hang out or you might not be able to tuck it back in.

4. Age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

5. Worry is like a rocking chair--it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere.

6. Whine doesn't improve with age.

7. Experience is what enables you to recognize a mistake when you do it again.

8. I don't know the secret to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone.

9. Just when you start to win the rat race, someone develops a bigger, faster rat.

10. Jumping to conclusions, running your mouth, and ducking responsibility don't count as exercise.

11. It is better to light one little candle than to be seen with no makeup under fluorescent lighting.

12. You can't see the big picture if your nose is pressed against it.

13. Talent is like an arm or a leg--use it or lose it.

I've heard them all somewhere, but most recently read them in various selections from God's Little Devotional Journal for Teens, Honor Books, 2001.