My primary motto is surprisingly unchanged since college: “No regrets.” I developed this one after spending three weeks, moping and homesick in South America. Generally, I made an ass out of myself for the better part of a month and missed out on a couple of opportunities I was lucky enough to have later on. I then decided that I’d do everything I could so I could come back and never say, “Damn, I wish I would’ve…” That included trips, moral decisions, managing personal conflicts, etc.
Secondary is “Just 60 seconds horizontal.” What this means is the standard expect the worst, hope for the best. The wording is a result of having a second child who, remarkably, is an even worse sleeper than the first.
I don’t have a motto. The words that most often pass my lips are most likely “Why not?” – usually in response to the question “why,” when asked about something that needs no cause or reason. For instance, questions about evolution: “Why do we have five fingers?” “Why do human women have large breasts?” Why not?
The phrase that best sums up my approach to life, however, is “Mind your own fucking business.”
Said with a smile. If we’re talking about things to put on our tombstones, I don’t want anything written. I just want the thing* to look like a dropped ice cream cone.
*Could be a tombstone, could be an urn for my ashes.
This isn’t the first time this has been said in this thread. So, I have to ask- what does it mean? Do you just mean generally, as you go through everyday life… or, if your neighbor was abusing his kid and you witnessed it, you wouldn’t do anything? I’m a big proponent of MYOB myself, but to make it one of your life’s mottoes, well, I just need to know.
No, that would be “I mind MY own fucking business.” MYOFB is mainly directed at the “friendly” and the “helpful.” Perhaps it’s not so much a motto as a leitmotif.