We go to school to learn about how the world works. Unfortunately, some lessons we can learn only the hard way – by experiencing them firsthand. Then, at the end of our lives, we can only regret the things we did or didn't do.
In 2011, researchers at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management asked people about their biggest regrets, and most adults talked about their love lives. Other areas where people wished they had learned crucial life lessons earlier were family interactions, education, careers, finances, and parenting, respectively.
Bored Panda has gathered some advice from two online threads where people shared the things they now wish they had known earlier in life. Some focused on health, and others on relationships, but most agree – these are the things most of us should know as we go through life.
#1
That time is the only non-replenishable resource. You can make more money, you can find new friends and relationships, but if you waste years of your life not living the way you want to live, those years are gone forever.
57points
#2
Just cause you're kind to someone doesn't mean they'll be kind to you.
43points
#3
You are influenced by everything you surround yourself with, be it people, hobbies, or environment. Therefore, choose wisely.
35points
#4
Smoking that first cigarette was a bad choice.
35points
#5
You cannot help another person, if they are not ready to receive help.
34points
#7
Don't take your health for granted.
27points
#8
Not too late but the fact that nobody actually cares that much about you is liberating. Stop being so nervous!
27points
#9
Cut your losses.
Don't cling to a mistake just because you've spent a lot of time and effort making it.
Don't cling to a mistake just because you've spent a lot of time and effort making it.
27points
#10
Tell people you love them. Ask them questions about their life. Listen to their stories. Connect, even when it's hard, even when you're a teenager who thinks 'they know better'. Cause someday you wake up and you have a hundred questions you wish you asked them before they were gone and a hundred things you should have told them while they were here.
25points
#11
Just talk to her, you have a much better chance than you think.
24points
#12
Just because someone tells you something in a soft supportive tone, doesn't mean they are actually supporting you.
23points
#13
Friends in high school are not as Important as you think they are.
23points
#14
That all people are flawed and I need to figure out what kind of person I want to be for myself, instead of just emulate someone I idolize.
22points
#15
Nobody has a clue. Most people have insecurities and problems and are too busy worrying about their own to give a care about your minor mess ups.
21points
#16
That I'm smarter than everyone said I was. When I was little I was diagnosed with aspergers syndrome and immediately placed in special ed classes. My parents thought I couldnt do homework so for about 10 years they did 90% of all my homework. Around my junior or senior year of high school I decided I want to try and do my own work to see if I could. I passed with all C's. After graduating I tried to enter the military but because of my diagnosis I was told I couldn't. I decided after that to try community college. I struggled at first but learned for to properly study and use time management and passed school with a degree in CADD with a 2.6 GPA. Looked for a job, but ended up working at a factory where I gained confidence in myself and enrolled at a university. Currently I am 24 and a college softmore with a 3.2GPA and tons of student loan debt. Not a day goes by that I don't think about where I would be if i had just done my own work in school.
19points
#17
To stop caring of what people think.
Particularly people I don't know/care about. I value the opinions of my family/friends (somewhat).
Particularly people I don't know/care about. I value the opinions of my family/friends (somewhat).
18points
#18
If you let people take advantage of you they will.
18points
#20
All of my anxiety and problems were caused by the amount of alcohol I was drinking to escape my anxiety and problems.
I'm glad I worked it out but I wish it had been 20 years earlier.
I'm glad I worked it out but I wish it had been 20 years earlier.
17points