Life ain't always unicorn and rainbows. One minute we are laughing out loud, another we cry like a baby. One moment we are feeling all good and confidence, and next we feel miserable. As we grow up, we acquires knowledge, skills and wisdom, to improves ourselves, making ourselves tough and strong in face of those hardships.
So here are 10 important life lessons, for everyone to learn from.
#Lesson 1 - Money will never solves your REAL problems
Yes, money can solve tons of problems, like your bills, a nice house and cars, a hot date, etc. But let's be real. There are a whole long lists of things that money can't help you with. Like health, time, regrets and mistakes, and happiness. At the end of the day, money is just a tool, for you to get your necessities and also some of your "wants". It is still important to work hard and earn money, but keep in mind of those things that matters to you and can never be helped by money. Those are your priorities.
#Lesson 2 - Don't rush it, pace it
When we were young, we feel like we need to get everything done at once. We feel the need of deciding everything on our own, experience everything in the shortest time, and for some, finding a true love, figure out how we gonna live our live, and have it all done in a very short time.
Here's an advice to you : Slow down. Pace yourself in this fast paced world, and let life unfold itself. I'm not encouraging you to sit in sofa all day long and let the life unfold, but try not to rush things over. Although it is good to have plans and take actions to achieve your goals, but moving too fast might actually burnout all your energy before you even achieves it. Enjoy a little bit more of your life, take a good look at the things around you, and not just kept thinking of the need accomplish everything soonest possible.
#Lesson 3 - You can't please everyone
Bill Cosby once said, “I don’t know the secret to success, but the secret to failure is trying to please everyone.”
It is true that we all want to feel belonged, to be liked, respected and valued. This is human nature. But you shouldn't be sacrificing all your integrity and happiness, just for someone's acceptance. The validation that you are seeking for, has to come from inside, not from an outsider. Learn to listen to your inner voice, take care of your feelings and needs, not others. It is absolutely OKAY to stand up for yourself.
#Lesson 4 - Health is the most valuable asset
I guessed the 2020 pandemic has pretty much taught us this. Health is very often taken for granted. We waste our body, thinking that we are still young and healthy, and we could care less about it. And before you know it, sickness are onto us. I am not cursing anyone here, but this is the truth. Many young adults today are with sickness, just to name a few, gastric, heart disease, stroke, cancers, etc. So if you do not take care of your own body now, your body will make you do so, with great cost and terms implied.
#Lesson 5 - You don't always get what you want
Imagine you were in a supermarket, a kid is rolling on the floor, crying and shouting at his/her parents because they wouldn't get him/her the toy he/she wanted. That's us there, that little kid, and the parents is just like life. Just that as we grew up, we learn to act cool. However, deep down in our heart, we feel the same, unhappy, angry, annoyed. We want things in life or we expect something to happens in a way we want it to, and that is normal. Yet, life does not always turn out exactly how we want it to be. Therefore, it is important to know that you do not always get what you want, even if you have planned it and have worked very very hard. Learn to make peace with the unintended outcome, accept it, and be alright with it.
#Lesson 6 - It’s not all about YOU
You, are not gravity of the mother earth. And even if you were, there are still things that aren't affected by you. It is good to be aware of your feelings and thoughts, but do not make everything about you. Not sure if you have this thought. Here's some example lines :
- My manager did not accept my calls, is he still mad at me for making a mistake earlier?
- My mum is not happy, did I do something wrong?
- My boyfriend still not proposing to me after 10 years of relationships, am I not good enough for him?
If you are able to link everything to yourself, then my friend, you need to snap out of that thinking. Try get a different perspective and look at things in a different way, you will find that there are many possibilities that these might not be even about you.
#Lesson 7 - It's OKAY to say " I don't know"
Many people think that saying "I don't know" is a sign of foolishness, weakness, and not cool. Well in fact, we all have our limitations and there are things that we do not know. We are not GOD after all. So what is the big deal of saying that? It is way cooler if you are honest with yourself and others, by telling them you do not understand or know something, and that you are willing to learn. If they laugh at you, then you know who are your real friends.
#Lesson 8 - Love is not just a feeling. It is a choice.
Love does not comes easy. You may start loving someone with a fire burning passion and strong feelings towards that person, but then, it may not lasts forever. Therefore, you need not only feelings, but also making choices that helps you both to progress in love. We have to choose what is the best for both of you, whether to be kind, respectful, supportive or faithful to each other. These are the choices we made, not by feeling, but by rationality. Relationship takes works. A feeling may start the thing, but what we decide determine how the relationship gonna lasts.
#Lesson 9 - Perspective is handsome
When you are able to look at things from many different angle, you will find that most of the happenings in our lives that seems so huge and important, is often means nothing at all. We got emotional when things does not turn out the way we wanted it to be because we've lost perspective. For a moment, we think that this event is everything we need, but years later we will realise that it hardly matters anymore. Try use different perspectives to look at the things that are happening in our lives. Your perception, decides your reality. Remember that.
#Lesson 10 - Do not take anything in life for granted
One may ask, what is take for granted? How does it feels? Or what should I do to not do that? To put it in a simple way, most of the things that we regret, are the things we taken granted for. Like your health, your family, your friends, your job, your wealth, your love ones. These are the things we think it might stay with us forever or for a long time. And once you have that thought, slowly you won't be taking care of it anymore. Until one day when these things have left you, you realised how you should have done things in a different way. You regretted. Which is why it is important to identify, to take note, of all the things you have now and take effort to maintain them. Nothing is lifelong guaranteed after all.
The only thing about life that is forever constant, is that it constantly changes. One second you are up there, the next you are at the opposite side, or vice versa. Life is full of lessons, and you can never learn them all at once. So, live and learn, always.
