I posted this on Facebook this morning but I can’t resist putting it here too. The last 2 in the list are my own personal addition.
You never really feel like an adult inside. I am still fumbling through life and making the best of it like I was at 15.
No matter how well you are prepared you never seem to have enough money, time, patience, sleep or emotional strength. You’ll fall short and that’s ok because you’re human.
There is no such thing as happily ever after. There is always something to overcome.
High school never ends for some people; there will always be cliques and groups.
There are adult bullies and they are everywhere.
You will get ridiculously excited for a house cleaning product like a new kitchen sponge. I tell everyone when I get a new sponge.
It is hard to make new friends. High school and college friends move away. Neighbours aren’t often as neighbourly as in the past.
Everyone says how can I help? But hardly anyone actually helps.
You will have your heart broken over and over by lovers, your kids, your friends whom you trusted, your employer, but it still keep on ticking.
Learn to live within your means. Just because your paycheck says you can afford something doesn’t mean you can actually afford it.
Time does not have to pass you by. We don’t have to get through the day just to pay the bills. Our lives are ours and we may spend our time as we choose.
Just because you can eat whatever you want whenever you want, ice cream still doesn’t make a good breakfast.
Your body and brain eventually fall out of alignment. Brain: what a fabulous idea! Body: I don’t think so buddy.
You need to take time to enjoy the little things. Sometimes they are all you get and they go by quickly.
Life is not like a TV sitcom or a big screen movie. Once the fun parts are over you have to cook, clean and go to work.
Your brain doesn’t age past 18-25 even though the rest of you does. You still think like a young adult when you are in your 60s.
When you get to adulthood you will come across people with different opinions than you and however stupid they are they will honestly believe they are correct.
Don’t expect life to just sort itself out. There isn’t a perfect point where everything is solved, you will be struggling with life to the very end.
There are people out there who want you to fail. These people may be the closest ones to you or possibly a co-worker but they will gladly do anything to see you fail.
There is no summer vacation in adult life.
Nothing can prepare you for the daily urge not to get out of bed.
You won’t have all the answers and sometimes as an adult you will be scared, if not terrified of life.
Find a job that makes you happy not a job that makes you rich.
There is nothing that can prepare you for the first time your baby poops in the tub.
Eventually you reach your peak and you have to watch the next generation come along and shine.
Some people will always act like relationships are disposable.
Not all people in decision making roles should be there. Learn to judge the quality of other people’s decisions.
The people who are supposed to love you can be the same ones who let you down.
Most times there is nobody there to take care of you when you are sick.
You will never ever want to drive as much as when you are 16. Once you become an adult it becomes a chore and being a passenger is bliss.
Nobody gives a damn about your degree or AP grades when it’s time to pay the rent or the car bill
Learn to fix things that break, spending $200 for a plumber to replace a washer is a waste of money.
It’s OK to ask for advice even when you’re 40.
Just because you are a good person doesn’t mean good things will happen to you.
If you always wait for the right time you will waste your life away.
Life isn’t fair. Expecting it to be is naive and dangerous. You can make it fair but play by the rules.
It doesn’t matter if nobody will find out, your behaviour defines you and how much you respect yourself. Never do anything that goes against your own code of ethics.