Just as is true as we live our lives, one day, then the next, but not necessarily experienced as a calm sequence, such is also the case with this school.
Lesson 1: you will get old, and you will be okay with that.
Why does lesson 1 begin with a discussion of being old? It's necessary so that you are able to garner all the joyous stuff from your earlier decades.
There is no way you can appreciate what it feels like to be closer to 60 than to 50, so this lesson is simply one of awareness.
You feel invulnerable today. You are not. You believe youth is forever, but it isn't. It's all good! With the droopy parts and fading beauty comes appreciation. At the point where you are, just knowing there is a safe place to land once you finish the roller-coaster ride which is your days as a young person can prove comforting.
It's no reason to pause in your youthful indiscretions. Go for it. Almost all of you, as a group, will survive it and come to see it as your launching pad.
Reflection is a marvelous tool. Remember that your recollection will be indicative of how you feel about your past, not what happened in your past. So, reflect again and again! The lessons there are multi-layered, rich, and worth tasting many times.
