The Answer to The Great Question is…

“The Answer to the Great Question…Of Life, the Universe and Everything… Is… 42,’ said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.” 

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The number 42 comes from the “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” books written by one of my favorite writers. The “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything” is calculated by an enormous supercomputer (Deep Thought) over 7.5 million years. But, unfortunately, no one knows what the question is. 

And now I am celebrating 42 earth years. Not sure how or why I get to be so lucky. But, here am I! 

I can care less for my childhood, teenage years, and my 20th. My life started around the 30th. There were some ups and downs, but things got progressively better. 

Now at 42, I feel like I am entering yet another stage of my life.  Every day I realize more how little I know. So, with the spirit of Douglas Adams and Deep Thought, I put together a list of things to remember.

42 Things To Remember:

1. Choose love even if it breaks your heart.
2. The opposite of love is indifference, not hate.
3. Zen mind is a beginner’s mind.
4. Almost nothing ever as it seems.
5. Ego isn’t the enemy when appropriately applied.
6. There is nothing to fear but the fear itself.
7. I am more powerful than I tend to think.
8. Nothing is right or wrong.
9. I only need one true friend (my husband).
10. I love dogs.
11. I must always make time for the outdoors. 
12. It takes less energy to forgive than to hate. 
13. I loved my dad. 
14. I love my mom and my sister.
15. Sometimes I can learn from my mistakes.
16. I shall never give up learning.
17. Reading is one of the most important things in my life. 
18. It is OK to say NO.
19. I love to teach. 
20. I love to write.
21. I don’t want to have children, and I don’t need to apologize or explain myself. 
22. I must follow my gut.
23. Life is better when I do what I love.
24. Sometimes I must do what I don’t love to get better.
25. I am not a good person, and I am not an asshole (for most).
26. I am on the journey towards becoming my best possible self.
27. Life is better when I don’t procrastinate. 
28. I don’t care about life after death. Soon enough, I will know—so no need to worry about it now.
29. I must like and love myself, to like and love others.
30. Sex is fun when intimate and friendly. Otherwise, say NO.
31. You can’t trust anyone who doesn’t like animals.
32. Never trust a person who can’t make a fool and laugh at themselves.
33. Courage is the complement of fear.  A fearless person is a fool (scared, do it anyway).
34. To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods (stolen from Robert A. Heinlein).
35. Never stop chasing my dreams.
36.  Don’t hurt others unnecessarily.
37. Hurting myself is not wrong, just stupid. 
38. Dance like no one is watching. 
39. Music has power beyond words. There is a beat of life and universe in it.
40. I am making my own choices before anyone else does.
41. Most things in life are not real. Just stories I tell myself.
42. Change my perception to change my life.

“Forty-two!” yelled Loonquawl. “Is that all you’ve got to show for seven and a half million years’ work?”

“I checked it very thoroughly,” said the computer, “and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you’ve never actually known what the question is.” 

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy