I Want to Live a Long Time and Be in the Present

There are many things my mother taught me through her example and her words.  These are things I have either learned to be false or have rejected:

• You can really only love one person in your life, and when that relationship ends, there is no other love worth having.
• You shouldn't have sex unless it's in the context of a loving relationship.  Otherwise, you'll get a bad reputation, no one will like you, and men will only be with you to use you for sex. 
• When a man uses a woman for sex (i.e., has sex with her outside of the context of a loving relationship), there's nothing positive in it for the woman. 
• Spend your time remembering how great things were in the past, and ignore the opportunities you have now for creating good in the present. 
• Wearing pearls and chewing gum are low class and you don't want to appear to be low class.
• You can't do x because you're too old.
• You can't do x because you've never been good at it.  
• Wearing pink underwear is shocking. 
• Pictures of the nude body are shocking. 
• You should do everything your husband wants and stop doing all those things he wants you to stop, so that you can stay married to him. 
• When things go bad in a relationship, it's your fault.  You should try to fix it by fixing yourself.  If you can't, you're a failure. 
• You will not be able to do x because you can't do it immediately. 
• Disregard all evidence that challenges your beliefs because you've always believed what you believe, and your own personal experiences prove that those beliefs must be true.  
• There's no point in trying to change things.  Things will always be this way. It's better to drop out and do your own thing.  
• There's us (hippies), and there's them (straight people).  We have nothing in common with those people and they're bad people; in fact, they're not really people at all.  If you do anything like them, you'll be bad, too.  
• Don't wear sunscreen and get a nice, dark tan.  

On the other hand, there are some things she's taught me that I've come to believe to be true:  

• You should pay attention to the natural world and respect it.  If you pay attention and are respectful, you can learn many things from it. 
• You should be kind to plants and animals.  Listen to what they say to you. 
• You can choose to live a life that's different from what your family expects or from what's considered normal. 
• You don't have to be academically smart to know things or to be talented. 
• Work hard and you can create beautiful things. 
• Gardening topless is good.