Life. Forwarded.

I'm a digital packrat, as I go through different computers and laptops over the years, there are some folders that I'll always take with me. Photo's, emails and documents that I'll always have on my drive. There is one particular folder entitled "Cool Stuff" thats been with me since my very first email account... its mostly a collection of cool little images and flash files that I've come across on the internet or were sent to me in fwds way back before sites were setup to display these random misc images.

A lot of the files are also simple txt files copied from the email fwds I used to get back when ICQ and AIM was what MSN/Skype is now. Every now and then I browse through some of these for pure nostalgia and also coz its always weird to see what fascinated you when you were younger, there's always something cringeworthy worth preserving. =D

This poem is from a file dated 14th August 1998. It was probably sent to me by one of my brilliant American cousins. They can be a bit of an inspirational bunch... (^^)

Not much changed in 10 and a half years then (0.-)

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Life Is...

Life isn't about keeping score.
It's not about how many friends you have
Or how accepted you are.
Not about if you have plans this weekend or if you're alone.

It isn't about who you're dating,
Who you used to date,
How many people you've dated,
Or if you haven't been with anyone at all.

It isn't about who you have kissed,
It isn't about who your family is
Or how much money they have
Or what kind of car you drive.
Or where you went to school.

It's not about how beautiful or ugly you are.
Or what clothes you wear, what shoes you have on,
Or what kind of music you listen to.

It's not about if your hair is blonde, red, black, or brown,
Or if your skin is light or dark.
Not about what grades you get, how smart you are,
How smart everybody else thinks you are,
Or how smart standardised tests say you are.

It's not about what clubs you're in
Or how good you are at sports.

It's not about representing your whole being on a piece of paper
And seeing who will accept "the written you."

Life just isn't.

Life is about who you love and who you hurt.
It's about who you make happy or unhappy purposely.
It's about keeping or betraying trust.
It's about friendship, used as a sanctity or as a weapon.

It's about what you say and mean, maybe hurtful, maybe heartening.
It's about starting rumors and contributing to petty gossip.
It's about what judgments you pass and why.
And who your judgments are spread to.

It's about who you've ignored with full control and intention.
It's about jealousy, fear, ignorance, and revenge.
It's about carrying inner hate and love,
Letting it grow and spreading it.

But most of all, it's about using your life
To touch or poison other people's hearts
In such a way that could have never occurred alone.

Only you choose the way those hearts are affected,
And those choices are what life's all about.

...