You can't help others unless they are willing to help themselves. We all have life challenges - life is f-cked up - but it is all about how we pick ourselves up and rise from the ashes.

Take chances in life. It is the only way to learn and grow.

The biggest lesson I am finally learning in my early 50s is that what you see is what you get. I've spent my whole life being pretty disappointed at how my romantic partners and friends have let me down. Therapy taught me that because my mother's entire life revolved around her children, she set me up for the inevitable disappointment when unrelated adults just didn't satisfy my emotional needs the way she did. I am learning for the first time what realistic expectations are.

Lesson: make yourself happy. Don't wait for friends and spouse to read your mind to know what you like, want and do.

I am 40. It doesn't matter if men like you or not; all this yearning for love, sex, mating is just a trap set by Mother Nature to make you procreate.
Find pleasure in your own company, do what you are interested in doing, make and keep good friends, and your life will be fulfilled.
It doesn't really get easier as your child grows up. Things just change.
People may and do change beyond your initial predictions.
Love the way you look, you may look much worse in a few years.
Put things in perspective.

^ I like all of the insights. Thank you.

40 year old here- Travel, don't wait. I've been to 100 countries and all the continents. See the world when you're young, it will make you more accepting of other cultures, religions and people. You don't need money to travel, stay in a hostel or do room exchanges. I'm a nanny and don't have a pile of money, I scrimp and save. I prioritize seeing the world.

Anonymous wrote:The last thing I ever said to my Dad was "fuck off, I hate you". He had a heart and died that night and I never got to say I'm sorry.

I've learned to be less of an asshole and forgive myself for being a teenager asshole. I also never walk away mad.

[b]

Forgot to mention that I was 16. I'm 40 now.

The last thing I ever said to my Dad was "fuck off, I hate you". He had a heart and died that night and I never got to say I'm sorry.

I've learned to be less of an asshole and forgive myself for being a teenager asshole. I also never walk away mad.

Anonymous wrote:I'm 40.

You never know what someone else is going through. People can be carrying intense grief and going through terrible tragedies and you'll never see it. Be kind.

The urge to judge and put others down comes from deep insecurities and a need to prove yourself. It is truly liberating to get past that.

46. Agree with above. There is suffering in everyone's life, you may not be aware of it. Kindness toward others is the way to go. Put away your pride.


And, as another PP said, take care of your teeth.

Life is what YOU make it.

Anonymous wrote:Don't wait for your spouse or your children or your boss or your friends to fulfill you. Take charge of your own life.

+1

Don't wait for your spouse or your children or your boss or your friends to fulfill you. Take charge of your own life.

Enjoy something about each day. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That you can choose to be miserable or happy. You can look at what you don't have and be miserable that you don't have those things - or you can look at what you do have and be grateful for those things.

+1

+2

+3. Focusing on being gratitude is probably one of the best things I ever chose to do. I stopped being negative and cynical and started focusing just on what I could do, and the positive aspects of everything else. The result is my personal happiness, as well as my family's happiness, increased so, so much.

Here's a lesson: don't look back. You sound like 33 year old old man or woman.