Advice for Millennials - from an Old, Army Salt

Put your cell phone down. Look at the world around you – it’s 365 degrees of screaming color, without a pixel count.  

Talk to strangers – the stranger the better. 

Get to know your neighbors, it will expand your community and help you find solid ground to stand on when the ground you’re standing on is shakier than you’d like. 

Interview your family members – their stories are already running through your veins so creating deeper ways of knowing them will only help you to know yourself better.

Hold the door for the person coming in behind you. 

Drink from a garden hose. 

Say “yes” instead of “yeah.” 

Go out to eat by yourself once in a while– you’ll find moments of quiet introspection and peace when you’re not always trying to be the you that you are in the presence of others. 

Practice random acts of kindness. 

Take your shoes off now and then and experience the world barefoot. 

Make sure the folks you love hear you say “I love you.” 

Get lost on purpose – you’ll be amazed at the perspective you gain from walking or driving around someone else’s neighborhood. 

Read a book – a real book – with the sort of pages you have to flip with a little bit of manual labor. In fact, read a book out loud to yourself or with friends – the art of storytelling takes on a life of its own when it isn’t restricted to a blinking cursor. 

Ask lots of questions. 

Chase down every last thing you’re curious about. 

Travel. 

Remember to say “thank you.” 

Drive with the windows down now and then – a little fresh air goes a long way and who knows how much fresh air we’ve got left. 

Don’t be afraid of me, the old salt – we’re really not as different as you might think. 

Try everything once. 

Okay – try everything legal once. 

On second thought, break a rule or two – it will help you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. 

After you’ve taken a drink out of that garden hose, drink lots more – much of what ails us can be cured by staying properly-hydrated (once a sergeant, always a sergeant). 

Memorize important numbers in case that cell phone of yours runs out of juice or gets dropped in a toilet. 

Be kind to animals. 

Put more joy into the world that you borrow from it. 

And above all – practice kindness in everything you do – there’s enough misery floating around the world, so a little love, laughter and joy goes a long way. 

And please, please put your cell phones, laptops, iPods, headphones, video games, and social media everything away long enough to look at the world around you. Humanity is holding your place in line – all you have to do is step up and join us.