Hey Pandas, What's The Best Lesson You Learned About Life Before Your 20s? (Closed)

TW: Death - You can lose someone at any time, no matter their age.

There was a little girl that went to my church I had made friends with. I was around five years old and she died. My parents took me to her funeral and said I seemed to understand from then on the fragility of life. They did this not in a mean way, but to help me understand why she would not be around anymore and so I could learn the ritual of grief and saying goodbye. (This was not done in a mean or malicious way, they let me talk about it and answered all my questions about it).

I also went to summer camp as a child with other kids with muscular dystrophy. My disability used to be considered a form of it, however; it is “mild” in comparison and will only slightly affect my lifespan. I am outgoing and made friends with most of the kids each year I went. I would go out of my way to be kind because my first year was so hard as I was only eight and got very homesick. I didn’t want anyone to struggle like that. The sad part was realizing some of my friends were unable to return the next year because they were too sick or had passed away. I have also experienced the loss of friends and family who died by suicide. I have had lots of loss in my life, but these experiences have taught me to say out loud my feelings every day, as you never know when you might not get the chance.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call 1-800-273-8255 or go to the website for the "National Suicide Prevention Lifeline": http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org because YOU MATTER!!

If you or someone you know has lost a friend or family member to suicide, "the Survivors of Suicide Handbook": http://www.sprc.org/sites/sprc.org/files/library/SOS_handbook.pdf is a great, free resource for support - although it *does NOT take the place of bereavement counseling* or grief support.

TLDR: my experiences with grief have taught me to say out loud my feelings every day, as you never know when you might not get the chance.

I learned that one may fool themselves without ever having the intention to do so. Try to be as honest with yourself as you possibly can, be direct in the way you present things to yourself.

I learned early on that the best person you can depend on is yourself. Even if someone wants to help, they (emotionally or otherwise) might not be in a place to do so. You are your best advocate.

That you don't owe anyone a thing, and neither does anyone owe you anything. Some things in life are just given, and it can be taken. You don't owe anything you did not work for, and people don't really have to do anything for you.

Life is not fair. I learned to accept that when I have to and fix it when I can.

To be able to share food with those you love is one of life's greatest joys.

Most People don’t get better with age. Just because your legally an adult doesn’t mean your character, or mental state matches

That sometimes you can't even trust the close people in your life. When I was seventeen and worked, was in highschool would give my dad 45 dollars for gas each week. An some how he would run out of gas. Found out he was using the gas money for what he wanted.
Also wait to get married don't get married young wait to get to know each other more got married at 16 husband was 18. We are still together but we split up for awhile. And it rough on both of us.

Beware of temptations.

Once anyone calls you a liar then just automatically assume they're never going to believe whatever you say - so stop wasting your breath. When someone calls you a liar what they've just told you is that they're going to filter whatever they want the truth to be from what you said. You can try to state you're not lying until your blue in the face and they'll never believe it.

What you were just given was gift. Sure it sounds like an insult but now you know who to look out for and why to look out for them. You don't have to fight them and argue your truth - screw it they call you a liar then fine, then you just do you. Your actions speak louder than you realize and your truth is seen and heard by others. Yeah it hurts, but eventually they'll realize or they won't. You've saved yourself time and energy fighting battles with them. I'm not saying you need to cut them out of your life - what I'm saying is you don't need to invest more of your time and energy into them. Give them the amount you would an acquaintance or low tier friend - then maybe they earn their way back up the ranks when they start realizing you were telling the truth all along.

If you slug someone in the face you’ll get it back

Are you kidding me?! I had no comprehension about anything of value till 25! Am I slow or what? Hahaha