I remember reading a book where the author referred to life as a ‘natural calamity’. And it kinda stayed with me. Like the seasons, life comes in different shades of rejuvenation, loss, romance, warmth, and desire. It’s comedic and tragic at the same time. And as we navigate this calamitous existence, we grow and shed our past selves each day. Oftentimes, this journey is accompanied by pivotal life lessons that, by default, are harsh in nature.
Our experiences, both good and bad, and their lessons are what eventually frame our personality. By the time, we cross 25, most of us have found at least one, if not more, insight that’s become integral to our philosophy of life. Redditors on r/AskReddit community recently shared such life lessons they learned the hard way that are worth reading.
1. “If your employer is doing something illegal or unethical and you decide to confront them about it, for fucks sake, do it in a way that all communication will leave a paper trail.”
2. “No matter how hard was your upbringing, you can’t blame forever the cards you have been given. Only you are responsible for yourself.”
3. “Not a harsh lesson, per se, but one of the most important skills you can have is networking. Learn to network early and learn to network often. Get involved with social clubs, do volunteer work – anything that gets your name out there. You’ll start seeing an entire world of jobs and other opportunities open for you.”
4. “Recognize where you’re putting your effort. Not every situation is a ‘If I just keep pressing forward then someday all my hard work will be rewarded’ situation. Sometimes when it’s over you realize you didn’t get anything.”
5. “Most people don’t believe what they believe for logical reasons. They believe things because the beliefs are psychologically convenient. They believe is true what they wish to be true.”
6. “Stop being a people pleaser, because at the end of the day, you are going to hate yourself even when others are going to love you.”
7. “Just cause they are family doesn’t mean they are your friends or even have the best interests for you. Some like old friends can be toxic and you have to cut them out of your life no matter the pain in order to save yourself from further harm and agony.”
8. “Life is unfair. Some people are very privileged their entire lives, some people are given much worse conditions but have all the same expectations put on them. No one cares that you were abused or traumatized. Hell, no one cares that war destroyed your country and that you have nowhere safe to go. They couldn’t care less, everyone is out for themselves.”
9. “Appreciate your body.”
10. “You can’t love somebody into loving you back. You can’t love somebody into loving themselves. Liking people and doing nice things for them Doesn’t mean they will reciprocate in kind. Be generous and give if you want to, but don’t expect reciprocation or praise. do it because it makes you feel good. The end.”
11. “You need to WORK at staying healthy as you get older. You just can’t eat/party/lay-about like you did in your teens & twenties. You need to eat healthy most of the time and move your body almost every day…”
– FL1967
12. “No one’s looking out for you but you, and theres no ‘Karma’. Sometimes jerks never get their comeuppance and good people dont get any breaks. Sometimes the best, most pure, giving people in the world get shit on over and over. There’s no cosmic right to punish the wrong.”
13. “You’re on your own in this world, especially when shit hits the fan.”
14. “Quality of life is hugely dependent on exercise, sleep and diet as you grow older.”
– ghaslam
15. “Co-workers aren’t your friends.”
16. “Time fucking flies. Do what makes you happy when you can, life isn’t a rehearsal.”
At this point, I think the only trick to life is to just keep going – neither too fast nor too slow. Just the right pace. Pause, if required, but never stop.
