Beloved posessions

Remember that all physical goods can be replaced - a favorite jacket, a nice bag. The reason that they become more precious is because they symbolize good memories and feelings from our past. However a lesson it took most of my childhood to realize is that they aren't the source of the good memories, they are just a reminder of those memories. That is part of the reason I like photography, it is an easier, more compact what for me to index into the vast library of my own memories. I hope you  to do not get too caught up in material possessions. #pseudobuddhism #materialworld

Self-perception

I use to scoff at all the focus on posture and sitting up straight... but now after years of flexibility training I have begun to notice the mind-body connection is not a one-way street. That your mind subconsciously uses sensations and positions of your body to influence what you perceive, feel and think

The human mind is a finicky, irrational thing. It has been shown that your are kind of bad are judging yourself and so sometimes you use your actions to judge your own character. Scientists have given people counterfeit bags and found that this influences their own self-perception and so they tend to cheat more.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/streams-of-consciousness/why-wearing-fakes-makes-us-cheat-more-excerpt/

Similarly, I have begun to believe that if you slouch and hunch your shoulders and back - you will unconsciously start to feel "slightly" more shy and cautious... but if you sit/stand up straight and walk like you have nothing to fear... you mind will unconsciously begun to take cues from your body on how to feel. Sometimes there can lead to funny results, where if you do something to heart beating quickly (like running around or crossing a cliff) ... and then meet someone, you will unconsciously find that person more attractive because your brain mistakes the increase heart rate and alertness are because of the person and not because you just ran around a lot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misattribution_of_arousal
http://www.spring.org.uk/2012/04/what-the-love-bridge-tells-us-about-how-thoughts-and-emotions-interact.php

So I'm not advocating pretending to be something that you are not or "fake it until you make it". But that posture and body position matter... so before you want to do something challenging... try holding a victory pose with your arms outstretched. When walking... keep decent posture and stride as if you are carefree and light-hearted if you can...

Smells like Teen Spirit

I read that girls end up liking guys that smell like their father. If that's true I apologize.

Making (and losing friends)

As a child I used to say "I prefer friends... you get to pick them!" (versus family). That was a pretty mean thing for me to say... but now I know it goes both ways. You can have a falling out with your friends and stop being friends... but your family will always be there to support you in the end(even if they are mad at you). A lot of people "say" they want you to be happy and are really fun to be with when things are going well, but it's the people that stick with you during the bad times that are your true friends.

Be Bold (But Still Be Safe!)

I realize now that I have always been by-the-rules type of person and I think I might have been happier if I was willing to strike my own path a bit earlier in my life... to do things that scary and new. Now I don't mean smoking and drinking alcohols and BASE jumping off cliffs. I mean trying something new even though I might fail, talking to people even though I might stumble and feel silly, chasing more hopes and dreams... even if they might not become a reality.

Identity

For most of my childhood I always felt like an outsider. Part of it was because I was the child of immigrants in area where there weren't many Chinese families. Too American to be Chinese, too Chinese to be American, I strove to avoid being lumped into large categories that didn't fit me. Instead of piano or violin, I picked saxophone. Instead of tennis or soccer, I played ice hockey and did aggressive inline rollerblading (I doubt you know what that is). Anyways. I just wanted you know, that is ok if you ever feel like you don't quite fit-in. That eventually you will find yourself and your place in the world.

Be reliable, be flexible

I think people should be true to themselves, but they should also have some degree of flexbility. I think one of my major weakness is that I'm slow to adapt to changes on the fly. I have difficult changing tracks if my day's plans go off the rails and I didn't anticipate it in advance. I hope you can still be seen as as relatively reliable, and consistent person... just not as rigid as I sometimes am.