Here are 7 important lessons about life you should learn if you want to achieve happiness and become a better version of yourself:
1. There’s no point in rushing things.
When we are young, we often feel as if we have to do everything in life at once. We need to get a university degree. We need to find a good, highly-paid job. We need to find true love. We need to start a family. We need to experience everything life offers us. We need to find our life purpose.
Take it easy, don’t rush things. Wait patiently to see where your life takes you. Take time to analyze your options and look around you.
Taking action and pursuing your goals is useful and commendable, but rushing towards anything is a sure way to get exhausted and miss many wonderful moments in life as they pass you by.
2. Looking after your health is solely your responsibility.
Don’t wait until you have health problems to begin looking after your health. Instead, start doing this as early as you can.
Eat healthy food. Exercise. Get regular doctor checkups. Walk in nature. Develop healthy habits. All of this will help prevent future physical and mental health problems.
3. You can’t please everyone.
You don’t need every person to like you, value you, or agree with you. Undoubtedly, wanting to belong and to be respected, valued, and liked is human nature, but not at the expense of your happiness and integrity. Others can’t give you the approval and validation you look for. The only person who can give you this is you.
So, never be afraid to speak up when you disagree with someone about something. Never be afraid to demand respect. And always stay true to your values and principles.
4. It isn’t all about you.
The world doesn’t revolve around you. It’s very hard to perceive the world from another person’s perspective because you’re always focused on what is going on in your own life. It isn’t easy to accept the fact, too, that your problems are not more important than other people’s problems.
What you need to do to keep things in perspective is to pay more attention to what is going on around you and how things affect others.
5. Love isn’t just a feeling. It is a choice.
That flame of passion, burst of initial excitement, and heart-racing love don’t last long. Because love isn’t only a feeling. Instead, it is a choice that you consciously make every day.
You have to choose to love selflessly and unconditionally. You have to choose to be kind and compassionate. You have to choose to respect. You have to choose to forgive. You have to choose to commit and be faithful.
6. There is no shame in not knowing.
No one has all the answers. There is no shame in saying that you don’t have it all figured out. There is no shame in admitting your limitations. Because you can’t know everything. You can’t have all the answers. We all make mistakes once in a while, but we also learn from them. That’s how life functions.
7. Don’t take anything for granted.
More often than not, we don’t appreciate what we have in life until it is gone. This includes our loved ones, our health, our job, and our accomplishments and successes. Why?
Because when we are young, it appears that our parents and friends will always be there, but the harsh truth is that they won’t. We tend to think that we have plenty of time to hang around with our loved ones, but we don’t.
Nothing in your life is guaranteed to be there forever, including those who mean the world to you.
