The 5 Most Important Things I’ve Learned About Life (So Far)
1. Your main focus should be on bettering yourself
Every day, I see people who take everyone else’s wants and put them before their own, trying to please everyone they come in contact with. Although, in theory it’s a very noble thought, your mental capacity as a human is limited, so exhausting all your energy strictly on trying to please everyone with their unique, diverse ways of thinking and living is fruitless. Our parents have these radical plans for our lives and sometimes try to push it on us, but we need to experience it on our own and find where our pleasure comes from — ourselves. Once you realize your own self worth and come to terms with who you are as an individual of which there has been none exactly the same in the history of time, you can share what you, yourself have to offer with everyone around you. Not everyone will see eye to eye with you but that will weed out the people who will support you and build you up in life and the buzz-killers you don’t need.
2. Life is subjective
Everyone has gone through his or her own unique, personal experiences that no one else has shared in exactly the same way. We each have our own way of perceiving the world, which paints a picture to our underlying character traits. This means that even if you were in the same time and place experiencing the same event as someone, the way you both perceived it would be different, impacting your lives differently as well. We may know what people tell us they’ve been through or what rough times they might be going through right now, but we don’t really know.
3. Be good to people and build good relationships
This is something I’ve always prided myself on being able to do easily. My grandpa often said, “it doesn’t cost a penny to be nice to someone.” It’s an elementary phrase that has stuck with me. Strike up conversations with people and learn about them. I’m a firm believer that knowledge is power and what better way to acquire knowledge than first or second hand experiences? Challenge yourself to meet as many people as possible and engage in life. We are so glued to screens these days that we lose sight of what it really means to interact with people, and it’s truly sad. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an avid social networker and love me a good Instagram account but there should be times where you can just enjoy the company of the ones you are with, whether it be friends, family, or your lover.
4. Change is the only constant in life
Every second we are alive is intrinsically unique, and things will not be the same as they were 5 seconds ago. We need to learn how to indulge in every experience we have the chance at being a part of. If you enjoy being with someone who makes you happy and will make you happy, keep them around. Fall in love, it’s a transcendent part of life that will inevitably let you down with a broken heart at times but it will happen one way or another whether you like it or not. Try a profession you have been thinking about while you’re young. Take that trip you’ve been pondering. Live in the moment and embrace both love and heartbreak in the same fashion because emotion is life and feeling something is better than feeling nothing or even feeling it too late.
5. Remain open-minded
Sigmund Freud said, “what a distressing contrast there is between the radiant intelligence of the child and the feeble mentality of the average adult.” As kids, everything we saw or did had an aura of sublimity. We were all like sponges, absorbing the sights and sounds in awe that life gave us. I’ve noticed, as people grow older, life becomes more lackluster. We develop daily routines that become repetitive and dull. We get pummeled with negative vibes sometimes or become numb due to let downs from people we really care about. Be resilient in life and come back from let downs or boredom with the thought of new opportunities that may lie ahead. After all, life may have it’s twists and turns but that turn will never be more than a 90 degree angle, meaning you can never go backwards.