As I quickly approach my 60th trip around that big, bright yellow ball of gas in the sky, I feel the need to reflect for a moment. I can honestly say that so far it's been pretty good. I have learned a thing or two along the way. One of the most valuable lessons I've learned is that there are a lot more lessons to learn.
I've learned not to make too many predictions about the future. If my (near) 60-year old self could go back and tell my 20-year old self what the 60-year old version of me would be doing today, the 20-year old version would probably just laugh. The 60-year old version would probably just smile and say, "Just wait, you'll see." There are probably a lot of things I would say to that 20-year old Rick.
I would say that, "the worst thing you can procrastinate on is to tell someone that you love them. But you have to go a step further than to just tell them, you have to find ways to show them, and that is usually pretty easy to do. The quicker you can forgive and let go of the wrong things that people will do to you (and there will be a lot more of those than you think there will be), the better off you'll be. Don't expect the other person to give it much mind or to notice. It's not really for their benefit, anyway. "I would tell the 20-year old that" a decision that may not seem to matter at the time, will make a big difference later. When you are at Yellowstone, don't miss the opportunity to witness 'Old Faithful.' The geyser itself is not all that spectacular, but the regret over being so close and not seeing it would be greater than the disappointment of thinking it wasn't such a big deal.
"There will be people who will come into your life and they will leave, no matter how much you want them to stay. There will be people who will leave as quickly as the money runs out, which it will do. It's okay, let those people leave. There will be people who will hang around. There will be others who will leave and find their way back. Learn to cherish the memories of those who leave, appreciate those who stay and look forward to those who find their way back. Loving comes with the very high price tag of loss. It's still worth it.
"If you wait around for some people to show appreciation, you're going to be waiting for a long time. Don't let that stop you from being nice and doing the right thing anyway.
"As cool as it would be, don't expect those flying cars you've thought about. Stop worrying about it, you'll never figure out what happened to that sock in the dryer. Some mysteries just won't be solved in the next 40 years. Happy birthday young man."