Hey Pandas, I Turned 18 A Few Days Ago! Do You Have Any Advice For Me?

If you're a woman, there are date rape drug detecting devices on the market. Things that change color in the presence of the most common drugs. Get them and use them. If something tests positive, politely say you need the restroom. Go to the bathroom and call someone you explicitly trust to come pick you up.

If you're a man, be a good one and stay away from date rape drugs instead of an insecure, violent a$$hole who has such little respect for women.

Learn to dress professionally. If you can't afford nice stuff right now, hit the thrift stores.

Always wear comfortable shoes.

Always listen to your gut. Handy tip, if you need to make a choice and you are having a hard time flip a coin, how you feel about which side lands up, will tell you how you REALLY feel.

Believe in yourself. Follow your gut feelings; your instinct. When you don’t, you often face regret. And when you do, you don’t have to learn what serious consequences you avoided!

Ignore social pressure to be half of a couple, drink or drug, take up your time with stuff you have no interest in, or watch bad TV. Life is way too short to compromise on quality of life, so only do it when it's important. Check in with yourself to see if you're putting too much into meeting silly expectations. Take good care of you, but stay kind and thoughtful toward others too. Be a good guy!

It's only a mistake if you do it twice. The first time is just a learning experience.
First
Atemp
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Learning

Don't grow old... mature, get things done but NEVER grow old! Take risks, but don't be foolish. You can't win if you do not play but never take a suckers bet. Love strong, but never throw your heart to the wind. Be real... you may lose people but you will never lose true friends. Oh, and always wear sunscreen! LOL!

Enjoy it whilst you can - it only lasts a year.

Just make sure to learn responsibility and how to own your actions good or bad and not to blame others for the bad ones. Once you have responsibility down everything else comes easier because you can respect yourself. Money isn't everything and doesn't make you happy but respecting yourself by taking responsibility for yourself does. Then you can pursue any thing you want and earn the money you want. Unless you love yourself anything you try or pursue will never work orbe enough and you can only love yourself when you are responsible for yourself. Don't let outside influences make you make bad decisions. Responsibility is everything. Take it from a 60 year old who may not have "everything" but has never regretted her decisions and is happy.

Learn something from everybody. Learning from your own mistakes: key to survival. Learning from somebody else's mistakes: key to wisdom. The most important lesson is when somebody screws up something, it shows what not to do.

Know what you want. Know what you don’t want. Especially in a relationship.
If something seems “perfect, except for . . .” then it’s not perfect. A small quirk can become a thorn in your side for a long time.
Somebody else’s likes/tastes/dreams do not have to be yours. You can still be happy for them while you have yours.
A small efficient car will arrive at the same time/place as an expensive car (and you’ll have more money to spend when you get there).
You don’t have to keep looking at a phone or computer to see what’s going on.
Laugh whenever you can. There is always time to cry later.
Sometimes things fall through, something didn’t work out, money is lost. Don’t let it eat you up inside. Just don’t do it again.
When you look back and can laugh, then you did it right.
You do NOT have to lend your stuff -- including your car, music or money.
Love when you can. Let go when it’s not right. If you hang onto the wrong person, you are unhappy and the one you could be loving is going on alone.
If you don’t know what to do with your life, help someone else until you do.

memories over item's. life is short:)

Just don't push yourself too hard and compare yourself to others. There is no time limit on success but you should still try your best!

Turning your passion into a money-maker may make it feel like homework, obligation, struggle, and effort instead of joy. If that happens, know that it's okay to reclaim it as a hobby or passion and find another way to make money. Not everyone wants or needs to have an *amazing career*. Sometimes just a job is okay too.

Start taking care of yourself now. Eat right and develop a good routine.

Try to be prepared for the world out there. It's harsh, it's brutal, it will chew you up and spit you out. Prepare for anything and everything. In being prepared, unfortunately, being somewhat cynical is a must. Don't blindly trust people because they most likely do not have your best interest at heart.

Don't be in a rush to grow up. Before you know it, 20 years have passed by and it's like, where the hell did the time go? Enjoy being young but don't be a stereotypical young, dumb kid.

Keep a good relationship with your parents. I have a friend who's daughter went to college six states away and her stress level was so bad that she got really bad psoriasis on her chest that doctors treated with chemotherapy. She went through it alone because she didn't communicate with her family. You need your parents, for emotional support. Having your parents' support is priceless.

Do what makes you happy. If you want to change your major halfway through a semester, do it. Want to date someone of the same sex, go for it. Want to never get married or have kids, that's your right. Don't let anyone else's life or choices affect how you live your life.

DO NOT GO TO COLLEGE. Do not go to college until you know, with certainty. what you want to do. Most people at 18 have never had a chance to form an idea of what they want to do. When you graduate from high school, get a job, not a "this is what I am going to do for the rest of my life" job, but just a job. It allows you to meet people, get an idea of what is going on and what you like. Travel. Go to Europe, travel the states, meet people from different places. Read outside your comfort zone. You will have, more than likely have 60 more years of life. You do not really know what you want to do. I taught so many "kids" out of high school, who signed up for classes they thought that they would like because it was a step to their future. And then they discovered that it a] bored them, b] they hated it, c] it really wasn't their decision, it was someone else's idea of what they should do. If you have to go to college right out of high school, take myriad courses outside your comfort zone. Math, languages, literature, history, sciences, you do not have to specialize, 'graze" among the offerings. You have your whole [YOUR] whole life ahead of you. Don't become something because you are supposed to. It is your life, live it for YOURSELF, not others.

Happy birthday, love!

A few things I wish I knew then:

How to do taxes by hand

How credit works. I've made a lot of mistakes with credit cards and put myself in a hole early on. Credit is not optional, many things require it such as buying a car, house etc. Learning what can help your credit and much more importantly what can hurt you is necessary. It is far to easy to mess up your credit and so many people bank on it.

Finally I wish I'd known the importance of completing my degree. I'm 33 with a kid, a full time job, and going to school part time for my degree. It is very hard. I foolishly goofed around not studying hard enough, repeating classes, and taking semesters off. Not to mention a lot of $.

Life's short, don't make a mess of it.

-- The Adverts