Life is like a game of chess.
How? When two chess players come to the chessboard, they both have their ideas about how they want to play the game.
But as soon as the game starts, the way you play is determined by the moves of your opponent, not by you. Life is just the same.
How? We all have our plans, but life has its own, and we have to keep changing our plans based on what life demands, not based on our plans.
To survive, you must be flexible enough to change your plans when necessary. Those who can’t change get stuck. That said, here are 10 things most people often learn too late in life.
10. What matters to you doesn’t matter to everyone
We often drain ourselves emotionally with our expectations.
We assume that if a thing or an idea matters to us a lot, then other people should take it seriously as well.
But this isn’t usually what happens. Each of us is leaving in our own worlds. People have their problems and insecurities to worry about. If they care about the things you do, be grateful. But don’t expect them to.
9. Blood isn’t always thicker than water
The closer ones are usually the ones who end up hurting you the most.
Let’s be honest. Sometimes your family can become your enemy.
We’ve all seen situations where the success of one member of a family arouses the envy of others.
Some people were born into abusive families where they were verbally, physically, and emotionally abused. But often, we ignore these terrible signals because we think blood must be thicker than water.
But sometimes, you have to create your own family through friends that sincerely care about you. Don’t force blood to be thicker than water if it isn’t.
8. Some people are not meant to be in your life forever
As life unfolds, it is totally natural that our tastes, beliefs, and values change. We can’t help it.
Growth causes our view of life to change.
Sometimes your childhood best friend might begin to look at life in a way that is completely opposite to what he or she used to believe.
Don’t waste time holding on to relationships that are not meant to be. Learn to move on when it’s time.
7. Elders don’t know everything
Respect your elders, but don’t assume they always know everything.
Sometimes they also have doubts about the actions they take. They also feel guilty and wonder if the advice they give is good enough.
I was surprised when my grandmother suddenly started asking me certain questions about life. Me? What do I know? In her infinite wisdom, she whispered to me, “No one knows everything.”
6. Looks matter, but attitude is everything
Scott Hamilton once said, “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”
Though the most apparent thing about people when we first see them is their looks, it is their attitude we usually remember. Attitude is what makes people unforgettable.
When we describe those we admire, we list qualities like honesty, kindness, intelligence, because people’s attitude is what really has an impact on others, not their looks.
And of course, looks fade, attitude only gets stronger with age.
5. If you don’t try, you’ll never know
A lot of potential die because of inaction.
Sometimes the only thing we need to do to realize what’s inside us is just to take action, no matter how small.
It is only in action you can understand what really works for you, not in contemplation or talking.
4. Life is unfair
Those who were born in Iraq in the middle of war didn’t choose it.
Some are born to presidents, and billionaires, others to beggars, without their own choosing.
Sometimes all a person has to do is be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they become a victim of circumstances.
The unfair nature of reality is something we all have to deal with, no matter how unpleasant. Sometimes we get the good end of the stick, other times we don’t.
3. Some people will just dislike you for no reason
Not everyone who hates you has a good reason for it (if any).
Most times we waste too much time worrying about the passive aggression of others.
We keep wondering why the neighbor or the coursemate we have never offended behaves strangely towards us. Well, if you can’t think of any reason, there probably isn’t any.
2. Reading books is one of the best ways to guarantee a good life
A book contains compressed knowledge of years of experience.
When you read a book, you see the mistakes and lessons learned through trial and error, you buy time, and you move much faster than others.
It makes you have foresight. This is why most great men and women are avid readers. Reading helps you see the world through the perspective of others.
1. People don’t really care as much as you think
Depression, social anxiety, low self-esteem. These all happen because we care too much about what others think of us.
We think when we make a mistake with our words or spill soup on our clothes, people will go home and talk about it for the rest of the year.
But the truth is that everyone has their own problem. When was the last time you got home and started thinking about the mistakes your friends made during the day? You don’t. Instead, you think of your own insecurities.
