Some Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Eighteen
1. The football quarterback you sighed over all through high school English class, will usually be the first guy to go bald, get fat and have a bypass. You won’t recognize him at your tenth-year high school reunion.
2. Generally speaking, teachers, doctors, clergy and police officers are no smarter, no more compassionate, trustworthy nor dedicated to their work, than the rest of the population. Sometimes they’re even less so.
3. You should judge who your true friends are not only by the sympathy they express when something very bad happens to you, but by the genuine joy they express when something very good happens to you.
4. The Captain and Tenille were wrong. “Love” won’t keep you together. A mortgage you can’t pay on one salary, might do it for a while.
5. If you love a man because he’s strong, brave and has all the answers, you’re doing him and yourself an injustice. If he still makes your heart flip through the times he’s scared, aching or unsure, you’ve both got something good going on.
6. The sexy butterfly tattoo you get when you’re twenty, will just look like a misshapen bruise when you’re sixty.
7. The physical effects of cigarettes, alcohol, McDonald’s twice a week and lack of sunscreen, will all magically show themselves on your face precisely ONE day after your thirty-fifth birthday.
8. Every single politician on the planet, particularly the one you admire most, has his/her own agenda, that may or may not have anything to do with your welfare nor the welfare of his/her constituents.
9. Don’t do all the talking when you meet new people, listen to them and learn. Don’t assume you can figure out whether they’re basically good or bad, either. Time will tell.
10. All the good you do does come back to you, as does all the bad. This is especially true of sit-ups.
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Comments
Just one question that really got me just staring at the page for about ten minutes...do sit-ups have a negative outcome...?
And now...I'm about to get a tattoo...I saved up for it...and after that, I'll be saving up for it to get removed when I'll be thiry something...don't want my kids to follow in my foot-steps...you think thats a good idea?
It actually took me a while to figure out what you said, I'm having a really slow day, I think I'm over worked.
Thats another thing we shouldn't do at a young age. We work all our time away, and we'll never e young again. So in my point of view, we've only got to make those mistakes to really live our lives. The wrinkles I get, I won't be happy, but they'll be a sign of my life, mapping everything in my life.
It's so true what you just said. Every thing we learn and do leads us to something else.
It's true we could do without the wrinkles. Just wondering- where do you work, because you said you've been working too hard?
But you know, I know how to slack off when the times right to take a breather.
But so far, since I've started working, I've never been job less, and my jobs have always been a strange flexible thing, everywhere else still likes to use my help from time to time. Means no day off.
You as well.
I've got to warn you, my blog isn't exactly a bloggy blog, it's just some randomness when there's nothing else to do when I'm near a computer....
at work, at school, at home, whatever means I'm sitting in front of a desk with a computer.
now she's just working through her trauma of swimming classes. hehe.
Thanks for posting this Patricia. You shared a lot of good insight. I will say that I definitely agree with #5..it's probably my favorite. It's a wonderful feeling to be loved and comforted by my Husband when I am going through a hard time, but at least as wonderful to be able to love and comfort him when he is going through heartache as well.
Good point with #4...but even that mortgage can't do it at a certain point. Sometimes it comes down to the most basic commitment to make things better, no matter how difficult it may be. No matter how much pain, burnt bridges, or hurtful words, a knowing that God makes the impossible possible can turn your misery into the greatest happiness you have ever known. This was (and is) true for my Husband and I. And I am glad to say that we have without a doubt, gone through the valleys only to stand on the top of the mountain. And we are more committed and in love than we ever thought possible. God brought us through our hardships and made our life better than ever before. It is possible, if you believe it's possible.
Again, thank you for giving us these words. You are a blessing.
Thanks for this...this is wonderful! :)
#3 - speaks to me on so many levels - I have experienced this many times
#5 - I will ditto BrianandBethany on this one as its pretty much the same with me and my hubby. The truth about your relationship comes out when you are walking through the valleys, not rejoicing on the mountain tops.
#7 - YES!!! I work in the beauty industry and I am rabid about skin care. However, skin care is not just about "product". Inner and outer care of yourself is very important. An apple can rot just as easily from the outside in as it can from the inside out. Our skin is a reflection of our lifestyle and our true "skin age" is not the same as our chronological age. Aging is inevitable...premature aging is not.
#9 - thank you thank you thank you for posting this! This is most important way to connect with someone.....listen to them, be interested in them, find out about them. You can't connect or get to know someone if you are doing all the talking or always thinking about what you are going to say next (instead of listening).
This is brilliant.
There is only one in which I dont agree, which is number 7.
The effects of cigarretes, alcohol and Mac Donald's twice a week showed up in me in december 2005. I will be 49 in a couple of weeks....
and, if we are to judge by your picture....there is nothing that tells *cigarretes, alcohol or McDonalds*...... I am very bad at guessing ages....but you look great :)
Dear Mrs. Peel;
Thanks for the post. I also like what you said to 'foxsydee' re: her post about things she wished she knew when she was thirteen. Why are we so hard on ourselves as young women? it's only when we're older that we forgive ourselves. The world needs more strong, smart women like you! And I return thecompliment on the looks. Ditto to you.
O my God, thanks!!!!!!
I m so pleased that I m founding all of you here....it makes the hope I thought lost come back to my soul....
:)