So many people spend years of their lives trying to figure out what they should have known from day one.
Health currency
Health is wealth that you can’t purchase once it’s gone. We trade sleep, good food and calmness for titles at work during our first few decades of living just to find out that there’s no amount of money that can restore your health back to 100% if you’ve abused it for years.
Relative opinion
The importance of others’ judgment is something you place mostly in your own head. Most people care about their own lives, problems, insecurities, and timetable too much to care what you choose to do more than a second thought, rendering your years performing for them useless.
Time poverty
Time is the only resource that cannot be replenished. You can always make more money or own more things. You can’t create one more second to spend. When you say yes to a frivolous demand, you’re stealing from yourself.
Presence value
Life isn’t made up of milestones such as promotions or retirements. It is made up of everyday moments that are happening this very second. We wait our whole lives to be happy when the big thing happens, only to regret not cherishing that morning cup of coffee or commute to work.
Comparison trap
Social media and society as a whole have made life into a competition with no end and no winner. Comparing your messy behind-the-scenes life to someone else’s highlight reel will only lead to unhappiness and hold you back from valuing your own individual journey.
Emotional labor
It’s not worth winning an argument if it damages a relationship that means something to you. As you grow up, you realize that guarding your peace and someone else’s dignity is worth more than bruising egos.
Career limits
Remember that your career is a temporary role. The company you work for will probably have an opening for your position posted by the time the funeral has ended. Remember that no job is worth trading your life for.
Vulnerability strength
The walls we construct to keep pain out are the same walls that keep real intimacy away. It can take a lifetime to understand that letting your raw and authentic self be seen is not a weakness, but the only way to reach another person.
Forgiveness freedom
The refusal to forgive others is self-poisoning and keeps you bonded to the person or situation that offended you. Forgiveness is not granting someone else permission to act however they choose to. Forgiveness is your choice to let go of toxic emotion and move on.
Parenting reality
Kids don’t need a perfect parent or fancy possessions. They need you. When the toys are broken, and the vacations are long forgotten, your kids will remember how you listened, how safe they felt with you, and how you reacted to their misbehavior.
Experience equity
As soon as you buy something, it begins to lose value. But your memories only increase in value with age. In 10 years, you won’t remember how much you spent on something or what brand you bought. Instead, what you will remember are the happy memories with your loved ones.
Solitude skill
If you cannot be alone with yourself, you will forever be imprisoned by the need for others and their approval. There is no greater strength than being okay with your own thoughts and peace. It allows you to only spend time with others when you truly want to and not out of fear of loneliness.
Boundary power
Saying no to something that depletes you is saying yes to your sanity and longevity. Most people think that living life being nice means no conflict, until they realize that having no boundaries equals a build-up of resentment that poisons their closest relationships.
Intuition trust
We spend years muting our instincts to listen to rational thought, social norms, or someone else’s opinion. Then one day, we come to the shocking realization that our gut feeling was correct. We lament how many years we spent in the wrong job or being with the wrong partner because we didn’t trust ourselves.
Self-accountability
You can’t control the circumstances you are dealt, not the economy, how you were raised, or what your ex does. But you are accountable for how you perceive those circumstances and how you live your life from this day forward.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.