I feel totally blessed today!
There are few milestones in life, but hitting the “Big 5-0” is certainly one of them and I am grateful to not only see this milestone, but to be a happier and healthier version of myself than I was at 40 or even 30.
I made a lot of choices between the ages of 40 and 50 that added life to my years and hopefully will add years to my life.
While 50 is by no means old, I fully realize that I have more years behind me than I have in front of me, and this is the crux of my birthday message to my readers. Particularly, my readers still enjoying their 20s…
Let’s just say that 30 is NOT the new 20!
As I’m want to do on frequent and regular occasions, I was listening to a Technology, Entertainment, Design talk (better known as a TED talk) delivered by psychologist Meg Jay that inspired me to write this message to my twenty-something readers. You can view/listen to this TED talk at the link below:
I will not summarize Ms. Jay’s talk in great detail, but the gist of her talk was that far too many young people, young ladies in particular, squander their 20s in the mistaken belief that they have the luxury of time to build a career, find a good mate, and build a family.
It truly saddens me that half of twenty-somethings waste their formative 20s building the regrets they will have in what will be their prime years (30-60) rather than building a solid foundation for a family, a career, and a financial future.
Young women tend to squander their youth by dating multiple knuckleheads who are not serious about them and not serious about their own lives. Young men waste their youth by chasing women instead of chasing excellence and building the foundation they need to be able to produce, protect, and provide for their future (or current) family.
I’m proud of the fact that I maximized my youth. I made mistakes, to be certain, but I learned from my mistakes and built a successful military career, raised a child, found a wonderful wife, and built a wonderful life.
I have a lot to be thankful for on this 30th anniversary of my 20th birthday, and I’m most thankful that I used my 20s wisely. I hope I inspire my twenty-something readers to do the same by…
-Finding and utilizing their “loose ties” to find and build a lifelong career (see the link to TED talk about “loose ties”)
-If you are a young man, chase excellence by cultivating your physical health, your financial health, and your intellectual ability (the three greatest sources of real wealth).
-If you are a young woman, don’t waste your time on exciting knuckleheads, but rather use your youth and beauty wisely and with potential mates who are actually going somewhere in life worth going to.
-The Rational Ram
The Rational Ram 
