Unfortunately, there's not a magical book filled with all the secrets and lessons of life. Nobody ever told me all these things, so I'm here to tell you now.
1. “A persons a person, no matter how small."
Some people live their whole adult life thinking that they already know it all. I think we underestimate the power of a child; they really are incredibly brilliant. Could you imagine being forced to trust everyone around you with your whole life because you can’t do it on your own just yet? You should be able to because at one point, you did. Children are not corrupt; they are still able to have a beautiful outlook on life -- only if you let them. Some people seem to forget that children really are the only people who can understand everything. Their vision is not clouded by wealth, social status or reputation. To them, life is not harsh or unforgiving. They will grow up with adults all around them telling them differently because they don’t want that child to be ignorant. Life is not so bad or complicated. It’s the people around us who insist differently that change our views. Children are not the ignorant ones, the adults trying to change them are.
2. Everyone is so easily impressed.
New technology or a smart phone is more important than a father that died fighting for his country. It is human nature to try to impress other people, but doesn’t it get tiring? We are in a world where money and things are all we know. We lose touch with the most amazing aspects of life living this way. A canyon or rainbows are not there to impress anybody, or trying to “one-up” another. For that reason alone, we should be more impressed than any other manmade object.
3. It is a beautiful thing how fast someone can fall out of love just as fast as they fell into it.
Because love is supposed to be something fragile. Personally, I don’t think it really exists because how can someone be so stupid to just give their heart away? Maybe they are the lucky ones because they know where they belong. But people rush to find something they believe in, but on the way to find what they are looking for, they lose themselves. How can you love someone if you don’t even know what you love when you find them? What they never tell you is that falling out of love is one of the single most beautiful things in life. Because we find ourselves in our loneliness. Falling in love is one thing, but falling out of it is something even more magical because you learn to love the one person that really matters: yourself.
4. There are more reasons why the chicken crossed the road then just “to get to the other side."
Just like there are more reasons a person leaves their old life for something new. We can’t always ask why they did it because there most likely is so much more to the story then anyone could ever imagine. The chicken probably didn’t even know why it was crossing, it just did. You can’t hate someone because of something you can’t understand because more often then not, that someone can’t understand their own reasoning, as well.
5. In elementary school, we were always told not to run with scissors because it could hurt you or those around you.
They never told you what running with knifes, drugs, alcohol and guns can do to you and others, or that it is much worse than scissors. Either way, though, at some point we all did.
6. You don’t actually have to make new friends and keep the old.
If we kept all of our old friends in our lives, there wouldn’t be room for "new" friends. There is a difference between “new” and “good" and “old” and “bad." People do grow apart. Someone who may have been your closest friend five years ago may now be a complete stranger. Don’t keep any deadweight in your life just because you think you owe it to them -- you don’t. New friends are not always good friends, they are just what they seem -- new. Don’t leave your true friends behind for a shiny new one because chances are, they would not do the same for you. In any relationship, you get out what you put in. Spend time living and making memories with people that never get old. Only you can choose who is worth your time.
7. Live fast, die young.
Everyone will die eventually, but it’s how you die that matters. If you want to know what something is, how it feels, what you can get out from it: do it. Because a short life with experiences and excitement is worth more than a bland life because you were always too afraid of the risks. You will regret almost everything regardless. If you tried and failed, you wish you hadn't have tried at all. But if you never go out and do what you wanted, you will always wonder until the day you die. What is a life worth living if you were never able to experience what it really feels like to live? Take the risks; it is always worth it in the end.
8. Your grades in school are no measure of how smart you are, regardless of what anyone else says about it.
Don’t let a letter or number define who you are or hold you back from being who you want to be.
9. You are not your past mistakes or poor choices.
You are your future and everything you have learned from your past. Believe it or not, the only person really judging you from your past is yourself. Don’t cry over spilled milk; laugh because it was spoiled, anyway.
10. You never will be the same person you were today because as time goes on, the dynamic seems to change.
You will meet new people from new places and never feel completely at home ever again. A piece of your heart will always belong to the people and places you know and learned from. Don’t be afraid to meet new people because you think it will be just another goodbye. It was always a hello first. That alone is a type of wealth that nobody can really understand until they experience it for themselves. So experience it.
What they really never tell you is anything. Because as I am sitting here writing this, I realize I figured it all out on my own. Regardless of what anyone did or did not tell me.
