“If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.”
– William J. Clinton.
Life is a long, learning curve, and as we age, it teaches us many lessons. However, the sad thing about it is that wisdom is only learned in retrospect, after you have made the mistake. Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.
Of course, just because I learnt the lessons late, doesn’t mean my experience can’t benefit others. Here’s 7 things people should really learn before they turn thirty:
1. Carpe Diem
It means live in the moment. Nowadays, people are so busy planning for the future, they forget to enjoy life. Remember, it is these everyday moments strung together that make a lifetime of memories. In the race to succeed, do not forget to first live.
2. Health is Wealth
When you’re young, you think you are invincible. Life has a way of tearing away your delusions and showing you that under our carefully constructed veils, we are all human beings made of flesh and blood and bones, and we need to handle our body with care. Because some injuries are for a lifetime, and once you suffer from an incurable, crippling blow, your entire perspective on life changes.
Don’t forget that old adage, ‘Prevention is better than cure’. Take good care of your health.
3. You Can’t Please Everyone
You’re a human being, not a pizza. You won’t be able to please everyone, and attempting to do so will only end in heartbreak and tears.
Everyone wants to be liked by their peers, but if that affection is coming at the expense of your self-respect and integrity, then it is not worth it.
Self-validation, respect and healthy confidence in your abilities is better than being a social butterfly with fake relationships.
4. Money Does Not Equal Happiness
You may think that being rich means you are safe from life’s tragedies and sorrows, but that is a delusion, one which is stripped away by life with time. Getting a lot of money will not grant you happiness. Even the poorest of the poor find happiness in their own ways. It is relative, after all.
5. Life is Not a Race
When you are young, you either fall into the rat race by choice, or are pushed into it by circumstances. However, do not pursue success at the expense of your integrity, and do not feel bad if your friends are ahead of you. Everyone goes through life at their own pace. It is not a race. As you get older, you realize that it was the journey that mattered, not the destination.
6. Relationships Take Work
As adults, everyone is busy with their own struggles. Thus, relationships take more work, unlike young love. And if you truly love each other, you will both be willing to make sacrifices and fight to stay together.
7. Be Nice
Everyone you meet is fighting their own battles. Be nice to each other, show compassion and humanity, not because it could be you in need of it someday, but because it is the right thing to do.
