As I near my thirties, everything is beginning to make sense.
All of the lessons I learned as a wide-eyed tyke are now used in my daily life and I thank my lucky stars for all the great people that have taught me these lessons.
Even when I didn't want to learn them, and trust me I didn't.
What would have become of me if I hadn't heeded my mother's constant, "Think before you speak," lesson, or my dance teachers warning of, "You only get what you earn.
" Or my boyfriend's, "You need to grow up!" Oh, I know exactly where I'd be, and it's not a pretty place.
It's that place located somewhere between obnoxious narcissism and rapid unreasonableness.
To make matters worse, the aforementioned place happens to be located smack dab in the middle of our current political system.
In our normal life, at home, in your cubicle or in the nearest supermarket chain, the lack of understanding of elementary life lessons can cause harm.
People can get into fights, or steal, or just flat-out irritate you, but when there is an absence of these principles in politics it can really mess some things up.
On the grand scale of things, if there is one place where I want the utmost example of civility, intelligence and honor, it's in our political system.
Would you want Mrs.
Smith's kindergarten class composing our national budget, controlling military operations or drafting legislation.
With all due respect to Mrs.
Smith and her class, I have to say no.
So, if I may, I would like to take a few moments and address my fellow Americans with a quick refresher course in some of the things we learned before we began waving around our political party flag's.
Lesson 1: Do unto others as you would have them do onto you.
This one is the absolute first lesson you must understand.
Without it, all else is a moot discussion.
If you act like a jerk all the time, it may be all fun and games, but no one is going to want to play with you.
You will either end up alone and miserable, or you will have to put up with other peoples jerky behavior, and you won't like it with the same fondness you do your own.
Why is this so hard to understand? Look at the Tea Partiers.
They are angry, loud and sometimes, use language that borders on, if not completely is, hate speech.
Angry is fine, loud is also fine, hate speech we cannot tolerate.
Hate speech can incite rage, which can incite violence.
Let me tell you, battles have been won with violence, but the consequences of brute force to get what you want, never leads to a peaceful gathering of people.
I've read that Tea Party members are upset because the media portrays them as crazy, and some were saying that the Obama administration isn't listening to them.
Well what do you expect? You're calling the guy a Muslim Messiah and referring to healthcare reform as a socialist takeover.
Heck, I heard about death panels killing my grandma for an entire summer.
The Tea Party members out there I want to hear from are the ones that want to have a conversation with me, not scream at me.
2.
The rules apply to everyone equally This one, as basic as it sounds, is also very hard for people to grasp.
When you approach the Stop sign, regardless of who you are, you're supposed to stop.
Why, you may ask.
Well, I'll tell you.
You stop because if that other guy doesn't stop and you decide to break the rule, you both could end up in a less than stellar situation.
Isn't it easier to just stop? We all think we are the exception, or our particular situation is exceptional, but we're not.
We're really not.
We all have been born, we all will die.
It doesn't make us exceptional, it makes us alive.
The sooner we accept this, the better our society will be.
3.
Don't jump off the bridge just because all your friends are doing it Boy we hated hearing that, didn't we? But it's so true.
It's really not in the best interest of anyone to do things just because the cool kids are doing it.
Ever heard of smoking? It's bad enough when you have one apple in the bunch that is rotten, but a whole barrel, what a waste.
Politicians, if you can hear me...
please stop doing what the cool kids in congress are doing.
Don't try to be popular.
You're not wining a Homecoming crown.
You're spending my money! You're deciding whether or not some of my friends get affordable health insurance.
You have A LOT of responsibility.
If you wanted to be popular, you should have aimed for MTV or American Idol, anything but politics! What were you thinking? It's not about you, any of you.
It's about those you represent.
And just to be clear, I don't mean your lunchroom buddies, I mean the whole school.
Comes with the territory, sorry for ya.
4.
Want vs.
need You want the cookie, you need the chicken nuggets.
You want the Barbie, you need new school shoes.
You want a Mercedes, you need a place to sleep.
Are we seeing the difference yet? We think we need a lot of things we really don't.
You want to know why the recession hit us so hard? First, watch Michael Moores' new documentary as soon as you can.
I recommend you have a drink of the alcoholic nature as you watch it.
Then, I want you to think of all the lattes and expensive designer clothing you spent your money on.
Think about the nice house the bank took away from you, you know the one you had no business buying in the first place.
Did we really need all that crap? No.
We were foolish with our money.
We wanted every new phone and every new feature that came with them, and we didn't pay for any of it.
If you're like me, you're paying now, dearly.
But I take responsibility.
I'm slowing paying my arms and legs away and that's okay.
I just really hope we learned this lesson by now.
5.
We all bleed, cry and die One thing I just cannot tolerate is prejudice people.
Sorry, I don't get them, and I never will.
What on earth makes you feel that your pigmentation or personal preferences make you so special? You're not.
I don't know who lied to you but you have been misinformed.
I understand that we don't like certain people and, or their beliefs, that's fine.
Nowhere are we ever taught that we have to believe everything we hear or like everyone we meet.
That's not even possible.
But for the love, please be nice to one another.
If you can't be nice, don't go around folks.
But I encourage you make yourself be around people who disagree with you, because I know this may come as a shock, but you do not, in fact, know everything, and sometimes you may be wrong.
These lessons are the simplest to learn, yet the hardest to remember.
We get so consumed with our daily matters that we forget about the basic rules that make our lives much easier to get through.
No matter how much you get or how famous you become, you will always be remembered for how you treated people.
In fact, your children will grow up and likely embody your character, and will live to terrorize a whole new generation.
So, I beg of you, start acting right, they don't make corners big enough to hold all of you.