30 thoughts on my 30th birthday

I would never think this day would ever come. It always seemed too far and unconsciously, I decided to plain ignore it. Today, it is my birthday. Cheers to my damn self! 😉

Before continuing: yes, this mischievous face is mine. Back in here, as I’ve shared thoughts and impressions on every step of the road I took from Barcelona to Ireland (so far), I will not go through them again; instead, I would like to share some life lessons I have learned during these 30 years of permanent wandering:

1. Never take anything or anybody too seriously. Including yourself. You are not that special, nor anything or anybody else is that transcendental.
2. You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Choose accordingly.
3. Quality beats quantity.
4. There’s no such thing as ‘having too many books’. Except if you have a Kindle.
5. ‘Hard’ is relative. It is mostly made up of excuses and self-pity, and you know it.
6. Question everything, never accept anything as it is.
7. Learn to carry yourself, for fuck’s sake.
8. Don’t dream it, be it. Everyone is accountable to a certain degree for their success and happiness in life. Bitching around isn’t going to change a thing. If you’re unhappy with your job, find a new one and quit. Relationship issues? Fix it or dump it.
9. Never do anything out of hunger, not even eating.
10. The loudest one in the room is also the weakest one in the room.
11. Travel as much as you can, but don’t be a tourist.
12. Hardships are inevitable; they can break you or make you tougher. It is resilience that makes the difference between these two.
13. All cover is temporary. Keep moving.
14. Don’t get attached to things, people or circumstances.
15. Having manners will get you a long way.
16. Cheap ends up being expensive; it applies to both things and people.
17. You should live abroad at least once.
18. Love, and don’t be sorry.
19. Don’t play the ace if you can win with the king.
20. Find your purpose in life; a goal to pursue. Don’t let life randomly kick you into the person/profession you didn’t choose because that’s a straight ticket to resentment town, and what is worse, you are going to infect the people around you.
21. While you are at it, aim high. No one dreams of being remarkably average, but keep your dreams realistic too.
22. Be the person your dog thinks you are.
23. Respect yourself.
24. Revenge is not only good, but necessary as well. Whatever the time it takes, you have to make them pay.
25. Buy only what you can afford, with the money you have. It is not that complicated.
26. There are stupid questions, especially when there’s knowledge available for free, online, at any time and in any format. Your smartphone and expensive laptop can do way more than Facebook and porn.
27. Savor every moment, for little it might seem; one day you’ll look back and realize you were happy and you didn’t even know it.
28. Focus your attention and efforts. “That’s how you devour a whale, Doug. One bite at a time”.
29. Never stop learning, it doesn’t matter how menial or out of your area of expertise your interests might seem. “The quickest way to become an old dog is to stop learning new tricks”.
30. Get your own life lessons.

Looking back, I must admit that the road to this point has been unusual, astounding and tempestuous, maybe misguided at times, but never dull and always made with humor, integrity, and unflinching spirit. Just the way I wanted.

Els déus poden regar-me amb calamitats,
els companys poden morir dins monstruoses gargamelles,
les meves naus poden naufragar a la porta de casa,
savis poden explicar-me l’autèntic significat del Cosmos,
nimfes i sirenes i fetilleres poden distraure’m amb les
seves xones meloses, però del primer fins a l’últim cant
jo continuaré sent el mateix cretí inflexible de sempre
— Valero Sanmartí

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