{"id":3510,"date":"2021-02-16T12:41:04","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T07:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifegram.org\/?p=3510"},"modified":"2021-05-27T22:29:24","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T16:59:24","slug":"18-things-i-wish-someone-told-me-when-i-was-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/18-things-i-wish-someone-told-me-when-i-was-18\/","title":{"rendered":"18 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I Was 18"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><b>There are several lessons which are very important to learn. Here are 18 things I wish someone told me when I was 18. Maybe you can relate to them as well.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">To be honest, 18 is a wonderful age, when you\u2019ve just stepped into adulthood and cannot wait to explore the real world. It&#8217;s an age where you make the most important decisions related to your future.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">As we grow up and face the challenges of life, we wonder what if someone had warned us about these beforehand. Maybe things would have seemed easier if we learned certain things at the age of 18.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#1_School_isn8217t_everything_and_textbooks_don8217t_teach_us_enough\">1. \u201cSchool isn&#8217;t everything and textbooks don&#8217;t teach us enough.\u201d<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#2_8220Your_friends_in_school_arent_necessarily_going_to_be_your_friends_for_life8221\">2. &#8220;Your friends in school aren\u2019t necessarily going to be your friends for life.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#3_8220A_lot_of_people_will_walk_in_and_out_of_your_life_Learn_to_say_Goodbye8221\">3. &#8220;A lot of people will walk in and out of your life. Learn to say Goodbye.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#4_8220Your_parents_won8217t_be_there_forever_But_you8217ll_be_okay_without_them8221\">4. &#8220;Your parents won&#8217;t be there forever. But you&#8217;ll be okay without them.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#5_8220You_don8217t_need_to_figure_out_everything_in_life8221\">5. &#8220;You don&#8217;t need to figure out everything in life.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#6_8220Change_is_the_only_constant8221\">6. &#8220;Change is the only constant.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#7_8220Dont_worry_too_much_about_what_others_think_about_you8221\">7. &#8220;Don\u2019t worry too much about what others think about you.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#8_8220Ask_questions_until_your_doubts_are_cleared8221\">8. &#8220;Ask questions until your doubts are cleared.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#9_8220Never_be_scared_to_make_mistakes8221\">9. &#8220;Never be scared to make mistakes.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#10_8220You_must_explore_as_much_as_you_can8221\">10. &#8220;You must explore as much as you can!&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#11_8220Doing_what_you_love_will_bring_you_happiness8221\">11. &#8220;Doing what you love will bring you happiness.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#128221Count_your_blessings8221\">12.&#8221;Count your blessings.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#13_8220Live_in_the_moment8221\">13. &#8220;Live in the moment&#8221;.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#14_8220Speak_up_8216coz_people_won8217t_read_your_mind8221\">14. &#8220;Speak up, &#8216;coz people won&#8217;t read your mind&#8221;.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#15_8220You_are_your_first_priority_Always_make_time_for_yourself8221\">15. &#8220;You are your first priority. Always make time for yourself.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#16_8220It_is_important_to_grieve8221\">16. &#8220;It is important to grieve.&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#17_8220Be_yourself8221\">17. &#8220;Be yourself&#8221;.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#18_BREATHE\">18. \u201cBREATHE\u201d.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h3><span id=\"1_School_isn8217t_everything_and_textbooks_don8217t_teach_us_enough\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">1. \u201cSchool isn&#8217;t everything and textbooks don&#8217;t teach us enough.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">There\u2019s so much more to the world beyond the four walls of the classroom; so much more to life as well. Textbooks don&#8217;t teach us the most valuable lessons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The marks we score wouldn&#8217;t make much sense after a while, and once we move ahead in life, it&#8217;s our values &amp; experiences that matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"2_8220Your_friends_in_school_arent_necessarily_going_to_be_your_friends_for_life8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">2. &#8220;Your friends in school aren\u2019t necessarily going to be your friends for life.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">We tend to make promises to be friends forever, but with time, people drift apart &#8211; and that&#8217;s absolutely fine! The ones who are worth will stick around and the others are just meant to be in your life for a certain time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">You&#8217;d meet amazing people ahead, from different walks of life, and knit beautiful memories with them.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"3_8220A_lot_of_people_will_walk_in_and_out_of_your_life_Learn_to_say_Goodbye8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">3. &#8220;A lot of people will walk in and out of your life. Learn to say Goodbye.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">It&#8217;s gonna be hard &amp; painful, but you&#8217;ll heal. Make sure to have good times as long as they stay, and when they choose to go, end it on happy notes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Don&#8217;t hold onto bitter feelings for anyone. &#8216;Letting go&#8217; is an important lesson of life that I wish we were taught much earlier in life.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"4_8220Your_parents_won8217t_be_there_forever_But_you8217ll_be_okay_without_them8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">4. &#8220;Your parents won&#8217;t be there forever. But you&#8217;ll be okay without them.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Aging is an inevitable process &#8211; it&#8217;s driven by the laws of nature. Our parents, being double of our age (mostly), wouldn&#8217;t necessarily live as long as we do. No matter how difficult life might get without them, you&#8217;re going to survive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The loss of parents can&#8217;t be compensated, but you&#8217;d still grow and make a wonderful life, knowing that they are always blessing you.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"5_8220You_don8217t_need_to_figure_out_everything_in_life8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">5. &#8220;You don&#8217;t need to figure out everything in life.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">When we graduate from high school, we feel a strange pressure &#8211; to figure out what to do next &#8211; which course to pursue in college, what profession to choose, so on and so forth! But that&#8217;s not necessary. You can take things easy and follow your heart.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Opt for a subject that you wish to study, without thinking about what career options it&#8217;ll fetch! It&#8217;s okay to not know what you want to do in life &#8211; you&#8217;ll eventually figure it out.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"6_8220Change_is_the_only_constant8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">6. &#8220;Change is the only constant.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">However good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That\u2019s the one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/impermanence-in-life\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">thing you can focus on &#8211; impermanence<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">So be open and learn to embrace change; realize that change happens for a reason. It won\u2019t always be easy to accept at first, but in the end it&#8217;ll be worth it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"7_8220Dont_worry_too_much_about_what_others_think_about_you8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">7. &#8220;Don\u2019t worry too much about what others think about you.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">When we give over our power to others and allow their impressions to become how we perceived, we lose out on who we really are. We tend to think a lot about how others will judge us &#8211; but trust me, it doesn&#8217;t matter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">You should follow your heart, always, and not be scared of what society will say. You are the master of your life.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"8_8220Ask_questions_until_your_doubts_are_cleared8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">8. &#8220;Ask questions until your doubts are cleared.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">You should never be scared to ask questions &#8211; a lot of them! It&#8217;s one of the greatest \u2018adventures&#8217; &#8211; to inquire and understand everything in better lights, Sometimes in the process of inquiry, the search is more significant than the answers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Answers come from other people, from the universe of knowledge and history, and from the intuition and deep wisdom inside yourself. These answers will never surface if you never ask the right questions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"9_8220Never_be_scared_to_make_mistakes8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">9. &#8220;Never be scared to make mistakes.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">When we were kids, we often got scolded by our parents, teachers, or elders for making mistakes, which generated a sense of fear. We tend to think that making a mistake is bad, but actually, it&#8217;s not. Our mistakes teach us the difference between right &amp; wrong actions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">The biggest mistake you can make is doing nothing because you\u2019re too scared to make a mistake. Remember, if you never act, you will never know for sure, and you will be left standing in the same spot forever.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"10_8220You_must_explore_as_much_as_you_can8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">10. &#8220;You must explore as much as you can!&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Our education system doesn&#8217;t teach us to explore, but we always have the hidden inquisitiveness within us. It&#8217;s important to keep the fire of exploration alive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Explore everything that intrigues you. Find your boundaries and break them. Walk an extra mile and you&#8217;ll get to know how beautiful this universe is; and you&#8217;ll discover a new you!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"11_8220Doing_what_you_love_will_bring_you_happiness8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">11. &#8220;Doing what you love will bring you happiness.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">When I passed out of school, none told me that I should follow my dreams rather than opting for something that seemed like a stable career option. It took me years to realize that I love to write and words make me free.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">That&#8217;s when I knew that doing what I love would not just be a thought career to choose, but it would also fetch me happiness and contentment. Nonetheless, it&#8217;s never too late to do what we love.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"128221Count_your_blessings8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">12.&#8221;Count your blessings.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">While growing up, life seems very easy and we tend to take things for granted. Parents are there to support, teachers are there to guide, friends are there to fall back on. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">But as the years pass by, the number of people protecting us would decrease and we might not always be lucky enough to experience goodness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Tough times would be there, people might take advantage of you, you&#8217;d fail &#8211; but that shouldn&#8217;t stop you from rising again. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Be grateful for whatever life blesses you with, and know that everything has a meaning.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"13_8220Live_in_the_moment8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">13. &#8220;Live in the moment&#8221;.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">We always keep postponing things, never realizing the uncertainties of the future. If you love someone, tell them. Color your hair. Get that tattoo. Go for that solo trip you&#8217;ve been dreaming of. Hitchhike. Try yoga on the beaches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/10-best-motivational-autobiographies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read a motivational autobiography<\/a>. Listen to pop music. Life is what is happening now, and this time will never be back.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"14_8220Speak_up_8216coz_people_won8217t_read_your_mind8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">14. &#8220;Speak up, &#8216;coz people won&#8217;t read your mind&#8221;.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">People will never know how you feel unless you tell them. If someone hurts you, tell them that you&#8217;re in pain. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">If you like someone, let them know how you feel. When you&#8217;re hoping for a promotion, let your boss know about the efforts you&#8217;ve put in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">If you&#8217;re feeling too shy to talk, you can write &amp; express &#8211; a letter or a mail, or maybe a text message! In life, it&#8217;s important to communicate. You have to tell people what you\u2019re thinking. It\u2019s as simple as that.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"15_8220You_are_your_first_priority_Always_make_time_for_yourself8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">15. &#8220;You are your first priority. Always make time for yourself.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">We often keep ourselves too busy with everything else, that we forget to care for ourselves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">Off late, I made it a point to take at least 15 minutes out each day, to sit and meditate or just be blank, while watering my plants or cooking my dinner. Well, it did wonders!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">It\u2019s very important to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parsnipsandpastries.com\/10-ways-to-make-more-time-for-yourself\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">take time out for oneself<\/a> and listen to good music, eat good food, read a good book, and watch a good movie. It\u2019s only when we care for ourselves, can we care for others too.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"16_8220It_is_important_to_grieve8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">16. &#8220;It is important to grieve.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">While growing up, we are often told that crying makes us weak and vulnerable. However, it doesn&#8217;t.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\"> In fact, it\u2019s the other way round &#8211; crying is a way to let out sorrow and makes us feel lighter. It is important for us to grieve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I realized it much later in life when I lost my mother and couldn&#8217;t express the pain through tears.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"17_8220Be_yourself8221\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">17. &#8220;Be yourself&#8221;.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">We are all unique in our own ways. We all have something special in us. It&#8217;s important to be yourself. It\u2019s easy to be a carbon copy of someone else and it\u2019s really hard to show your true self around others sometimes, but in the end, it\u2019s worth it. Nurture your well-being. It&#8217;ll help you to grow beautifully.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"18_BREATHE\"><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">18. \u201cBREATHE\u201d.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I took this for granted &#8211; breathing &#8211; it felt like something obvious, something that we all are doing, every day, every minute, every second. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/vipassana-meditation-experience\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">when I first went for my Vipassana course<\/a>, I realized that we were never taught to \u2018Breathe\u2019 &#8211; to be mindful of our existence, to be grateful for this life, to appreciate the joy of living.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;\">I wish someone had told me all these when I was 18. But nonetheless, I\u2019m glad that life taught me these lessons over the years, and now, more than ever, I feel empowered &#8211; to be here, now, rejoicing the blessings that came my way.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[optin-monster slug=&#8221;ofzgfgq5ljbqtukramsl&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are several lessons which are very important to learn. Here are 18 things I wish someone told me when I was 18. Maybe you can relate to them as well. To be honest, 18 is a wonderful age, when you\u2019ve just stepped into adulthood and cannot wait to explore the real world. It&#8217;s an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[679],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3510"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5123,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3510\/revisions\/5123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}