I’m not a person who concerns himself with spoilers. If I really want to know the end of a movie, I’ll ask. It won’t spoil the enjoyment if I know what’s coming: that Rosebud was his sled, that Verbal Kint was really Keyser Soze, or that Soylent Green is really people.
That got me to thinking about my own life and what spoilers I would have liked to have heard while I was growing up. So here are my own spoilers that may have changed my life if I had known them, even if they don’t mean a thing to you.
- Love is not enough to build a long-lasting relationship on.
- Do what you love, don’t chase a paycheck. No, seriously. You won’t be happy if the paycheck is your only motivator.
- Don’t get upset when you don’t get that job in North Carolina. Not getting it will change your entire life.
- Pay closer attention to fractions in elementary school. You actually will use them as an adult.
- There is no metaphorical sunset to walk off into. Everyone gets up the next morning.
- Don’t quit riding your bike. You don’t have to keep racing, just don’t quit riding.
- Take the blame. You’re not a Special Boy. You can accept the blame for things you did, and people will still like you. But if you try to avoid blame, you’ll look like an ass, and people won’t.
- You should have started watching Doctor Who years ago.
- Read The Catcher In the Rye while you’re still young. Otherwise you’ll read it when you’re 40 and think Holden Caulfield is just an asshole.
- You probably don’t need to take that ballet class in college. At age 46, I still haven’t seen any benefit from it, although I do remember First Position.
I took Ryan’s list as my own little personal challenge to see what spoilers I wish I would have known. If the list moves you to do so, create your own list of spoilers, and put them on your own blog. Leave the URL of your blog post in the comments, so we can see them. Or, just list one or two spoilers in the comments.
