Thursday, 14 January 2010

  • 10 Life Lessons


    Little things here and there that I have learned, been taught, and discovered through my 24 years of existence.  I have more, but I figure I'd break them up into multiple future entries since I don't update often anyways.

    One.
    Things do not happen for a reason. Life is messy and chaotic. Most people who tell you otherwise can say so because they are looking at their own lives in retrospect and assign reasons to the things that have happened. The truth is that they were probably once as clueless as we are. For them to look at things in retrospect means that they get to connect the dots backwards. Everything makes sense because they have a huge array of life events to select from – picking only the ones that contribute to where they are now…and disregard everything else as insignificant.

    Things only happen for a reason when you look at life in retrospect – which isn’t very helpful for those of us living in the present moment. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Two.
    Sometimes growing up is gradual and seamless, something that you don’t consciously notice. Other times, it is triggered by a specific event: you remember what life was like before and what it is like after something occurs. Somewhere in between, your perspective changes – I think this is where the “growing up” happens. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Three.
    When people ask for advice, they are actually seeking confirmation and validation to their already made decisions and pre-established notions most of the time. Sometimes you just need to realize there’s no way to get through to them. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Four.
    My birthdays are always more enjoyable when I stay sober. I absolutely HATE getting drunk because I want to remember everyone and everything that made my night special. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Five.
    I can do whatever I want on my birthday – even cry if I want to. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Six.
    Proceed with caution when taking relationship advice from people who are not in successful relationships. Yes, they can teach you to play games, help you get one night stands, become a womanizer, etc., but that’s usually all the knowledge they can offer. From personal experience, I can tell you that giving the silent treatment and purposely making my significant other jealous were not healthy for my relationships. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Seven.
    Don’t take the whole “follow your dreams” mantra too literally because it sometimes may not be the smartest, most logical, or most economical choice. The people who tell you to follow your dreams because they did and succeeded – get to tell you inspirational stuff like that precisely because they succeeded. What you don’t hear about are the countless others who followed the exact same advice and failed.

    Keep dreaming, but keep it real also. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Eight.
    Don’t wear anything fashionable when taking keepsake photographs (i.e. yearbook, wedding). Keep it classy. The way you look at how you dress today in10 years will be exactly the way we look at shoulder pads and 80s hair now. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Nine.
    You can learn a lot from reading children’s stories and books. Some of my favorites are:

    • The Little Prince
    • The Precious Present
    • The Giving Tree
    • The Places You’ll Go

    Give them a try. You can literally finish all four of these books in 30 minutes. ______________________________________________________________________________

    Ten.
    Learn your own life lessons. 

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