Top 10 List of Things I Care About the Most

10. Art.
This covers the full gambit, from theater to music to television to painting to sculpute to a good book. Artists are simply the greatest and luckiest people alive. That they can make a living creating things of beauty and originality, I'm jealous just thinking of it. I seek out good art, praise those who make it and try to find art in my own life as often as possible.

9. Patriotism.
I grew up reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every morning before class. I wonder today why they stopped doing that in high school. And worse, why they have to change it. The best way to raise good Americans is to make us proud to be Americans. The only thing you need to do to do that is to follow a few basic tenants: Support the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, support your armed forces, make your civic contributions (like tax paying or jury duty) with pride and root for the U.S. team in every Olympic sport. I think I'm a better person for the patriotism I show. By the way, it's not easy, but it's vital.

8. Exploring.
Every day I try to learn something new. I try to see something new or something old in a new way. I try to pay attention to sunrises, sunsets and starry skies. I try to find the value in everyone and everything around me. I try to see and smell and feel something new (maybe not taste all the time). We exist to explore our world and make our place in it. That's what I try to do every day, as much as I can anyway.

7. Make every day count.
It's cliche, and I'll admit I don't think of it every day. What I do think of, from time to time, is of those people who have died. Would they be proud of me for what I did with my day? Would they approve? Lord knows they'd do anything to get even a single day of their life back. Shouldn't my life be filled with such great meaning and accomplishment as to make me worthy to have all my days?

6. Do your best at all you do.
Seriously, I don't understand how American soceity has come to accept and trivialize mediocrity. Students get C's and D's and we reward them. "At least it isn't an F" we might say. Please. It is an F if the student isn't trying their best. Did the company make the most money it could or make the best product? No, because Larry's doing an okay job. Larry, do a GREAT job. Try to be the top of the heap. Don't settle.

5. Failure isn't an option.
If there's one thing I hate it's failure. I can't stand it. Nothing more in the world drives me on and/or crazy. I avoid it as much as I can. When I do fail, I don't take it well. Therefore, I try to never fail. I'm human, so I have to deal with failure at least once a week (if not more), but with each failure I get a little better overall.

4. Do other people like me?
It's a little sad how much importance I put on this, but I figure other people are better equipped to determine whether someone is a good person or not. Me, I find the good in just about everybody and avoid judgment and identifying the bad. I think that makes me a little vulnerable and naive. But, if I surround myself with people who like me than my day gets that much better/easier.

3. My odor.
Let's face it, I don't like stinky things. I don't like stinky people. I don't like it when I'm stinky. Bleh. Gotta keep clean, gotta look clean and watch out for that breath ... it's always the last thing you notice.

2. The Golden Rule.
With all the ambiguity and contradiction in the Bible and in the Christian faith, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" is probably one of the greatest ideas ever written down. Simply put, it is the central message of good living and should be the foremost thought in our mind as we deal with other people in our lives. For me, it impacts everything I do when I work with others. If only that could be said of everyone else ...

1. My friends
If I consider you a friend, it's a 100% guarantee I'd take a bullet for you. My friends are the greatest thing in my life, without question. They are the people who drive my days forward and bring value to them. Without them, I really am nothing. It's important that I make them happy and that they make me happy in return by remaining my friends. It's mostly symbiotic and not entirely healthy on my part, but it's the truth and I won't have it any other way.