A Rhyme for Returning Home

When I’m back in the U.S., I’ll need to keep my goals in mind and my spirits up. I recently read Sunrise on the Reaping the moment it came out, and one character had composed a sing-song rhyme to remind herself how to stay alive. It stuck with me. With a friend’s help, I adapted it into my own mantra.

It’s based on my personal “to-do list” for this next chapter, but shorter and recitable, to help me stay cheerfully on track:

Work and save, spend with care,
Eat good food, breathe fresh air.

Find a job, give it heart,
Learn and grow, make a start.

Meet good folks, take my place,
Balance joy with logic’s grace.

Step outside, explore, be free—
Build my life and just be me.
My "to do" list for life back in the States:

• Make money and save money
• Spend money on health (gym, healthy food, and supplements)
• Get a job, buy a car, rent/buy a home
• Engage in work enthusiastically
• Study something (on my own or in a free class)
• Make friends and find a community
• Do it today so you can do something else tomorrow
• Momentum and responsibility
• Visualize a bright shining future
• Listen to Captain Logic as often as I listen to Captain Fun (carefully chose a few YouTube videos and fill most of my free time with healthy positive things)
• Go outside and visit cool new places

(At first, I struggled to memorize my rhyme, but a friend suggested setting it to music. Turns out, it flows perfectly to the familiar simple tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.)