And a Few More Words of Wisdom

After reading Stacey Mason’s piece on life lessons learned as a twentysomething professional, I wondered if imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, or maybe just the purest form of a rip-off.

I wondered because Stacey’s column made me realize I have some words of wisdom to share, too. In the interest of being upfront — another valuable piece of advice — some of these should be taken more seriously than others.

In no particular order…

• Any office with a window beats a bigger office without a window.

• If you’re ever running for governor and also happen to be a criminal defense attorney, representing someone many people see as the face of all that was wrong with Northwest Arkansas’ real estate/development collapse might not endear voters.

• Wear sunscreen. Age spots happen, and a helluva lot sooner than you think.

• Consider these paraphrased words from former Wal-Mart Stores Inc. CEO Lee Scott: In your 20s and 30s, you will wonder and worry about what people are saying about you. In your 40s and 50s, you’ll convince yourself you don’t care what people are saying about you. After that, you’ll realize they weren’t talking about you in the first place.

• Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. I’m pretty sure Chinese general Sun Tzu said that, and I think
it means the easiest way to defeat
your enemies is by befriending them, learning their habits, strengths and weaknesses, etc.

• You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. I’m pretty sure an elderly lady was the first person to say this, and I think it means being nice gets you farther in life than not
being nice.

• Or, if I were to combine the previous two points: Catch your enemies when you can, but don’t kill yourself in the process. And, of most important of all, always keep your honey close.