Life Lessons From Marina Keegan's Posthumous Book of Essays

This article comes from Yahoo! Shine and was contributed by Beth Greenfield. Now while I've tried to make it a policy not to take articles from Yahoo!, but I believe this is an exception worth making.

It's the story of Marina Keegan who just five days after graduating magna cum laude from Yale University, was tragically killed in an auto accident. This amazing girl had a bright future ahead of her and to have it cut short this way... well, who knows what great things will never be accomplished because of her loss.

I was especially touched by this, and feel it is worth repeating. You can read the entire article HERE, and I encourage you to do so.

Her posthumous book 'The Opposite of Loneliness' is a collection of her essays and stories. The title piece is something from which we all could learn, and gives a hint of her other contents of the book. It is available on Amazon, if you should find it worth your purchase.

Shortly after Keegan’s death, her final essay for the Yale Daily News went viral, receiving more than 1.4 million hits. Here are just five of many lessons the young writer’s words teach:

1. Don’t be afraid to recalibrate your goals.

2. You’re not alone in thinking you’re unworthy. Just keep it in perspective.

3. You don’t have to pursue goals that you despise.

4. Value life — all of it.

5. It’s never too late (even if you’re not in your 20s).

Marina details her thoughts on each. Read the article and see if your curiosity is peaked to read more.

Distracted Drivers

When we were in high school, we were required to take Driver’s Education. The class was mildly educational, but useful to give us a hint about what was going to be expected of us as a responsible person behind the wheel of a car. I also took an extension of the class, where I had six hours of behind the wheel training with an instructor. Ever been behind the wheel before, that was a real eye opener.

One of the other things they showed us was some movies created to give us a reality check on our responsibility. Over the next couple of years, I saw them all. These are legendary shock driving films showing numerous scenes of injured or dead accident victims along with their mangled cars.

They were mostly produced by the Ohio State Highway Patrol around the 1950s and shown to many, many young drivers over the years. There were numerous titles produced over the years. Mechanized Death, Signal 30, Red Asphalt, and Highways of Agony are some of the titles, but there were more made over the years, all with the same purpose… to get drivers to pay attention when behind the wheel. There are plenty of other examples.

I don’t know if they show these kinds of movies to school age kids anymore, but if they don’t they should. The roads are many times more crowded and busy than when I was a young driver. This is now complicated by new technologies designed to make our life easier and more convenient. The unintended consequences of these things, however, has created a grim reminder of how important it is to be a responsible driver behind the wheel. I’m talking about mobile phones.

Talking while driving is serious enough, but newer technology now allows us to send a text message from these phones. Since there are no built-in restrictions in when we can do this, driving while texting has become a treacherous and deadly addition to drivers everywhere, and despite all of the warnings and legislation, the trend continues.

It seems that until a person is personally touched by a tragedy resulting from this behavior, the use of mobile phones while driving will continue. 

A recent movie coming from the UK, drives home the point. Watch PSA Texting while Driving U.K., and see a well produced and realistic recreation.

If that isn’t enough to get your attention, I offer one last movie. It should leave you Beyond Words. If you can sit through the entire example of distracted, high speed, and unsafe driving, I’m sure you will take a second look at your own driving skills and be more aware during your time behind the wheel.

I see examples of bad and distracted driving every time I get behind the wheel, and that concerns me. It’s a crazy world out there. Be safe. Pay attention. Don't risk it. 

Social Engineering. The Myth

Have we learned anything from these attempts at social engineering? Evidently not, because 33 percent of high school graduates never read another book after leaving school. Forty-two percent  of college graduates never read another book after college. Fifty-seven percent of new books aren’t read to completion. Nearly 70 percent of adults in the US haven’t been to a bookstore in the last five years and 80 percent of families didn’t buy or read a book last year.

If one read only an hour per day in a chosen field, you would be an expert in seven years.

Where do you fit in?