Blink and you'll miss it––one day your twenties will be gone. What did you do? What did you learn along the way?
Here's some advice: Be careful regarding your financial decisions. Financial mistakes can set you back years and they can really mess you up when you're starting out. Having a decent credit score is important if you want to take out a loan, apply for more credit, and even rent out an apartment.
After Redditor SignalAd7905 asked the online community, "What's the worst mistake people make in their twenties?" people shared their advice and experiences.
"It's completely disabling..."
This comes under 'looking after your body' I suppose, but it's a specific one that is still little known:
Wrecking your ears with excessive noise exposure. Even if you don't care about losing your hearing, you don't want catastrophic tinnitus. It's completely disabling. And nobody tells you that you can get it years or decades after the noise exposure. I just thought, "I'll knock this off before it gets too bad."
Excellent advice.
All those unplugged concerts can catch up with you. Be mindful!
"The heart attack..."
Not eating right and exercising. The heart attack you have at 50 doesn't just magically show up. Cardiovascular disease is from years of buildup.
"It doesn't matter..."
Life is not a race. It doesn't matter, who's getting married, who's moved out from their parents' house, who has a kid. You go at your pace. Don't think you're behind anyone else.
"Someone else being in pain..."
Being in pain or just being miserable is not a competition. Someone else being in pain or miserable while you're in pain or miserable doesn't invalidate anything.
"Pay yourself first."
Not saving enough money.
Pay yourself first. Don't work the rest of your life.
It's good to have a healthy savings account.
You don't want to find yourself strapped in the event of an emergency. That's easier said than done, though, for a multitude of reasons. Saving money can feel like an uphill climb.
"As you get money..."
As you get money you tend to take out credit to get nice things. A sudden change in your career can ruin your life for a while. Be careful about buying things you can't pay for outright.
"Don't burn out the clutch..."
Treating their body like it's a rental. Look after it. You will be living in this body for many years to come. Don't burn out the clutch by 27 and live with the consequences for 60 more years.
100% correct.
Exercise and eat right. You'll thank yourself later.
This is huge.
Exercise! Eat right. One day you'll wake up and realize that you have aches and pains where there weren't any before and things will only grow more difficult without the right habits in place."It's never too late..."
Sticking to a career they hate because that's what they chose to do when they were 16-18 years old. It's never too late to change your career path and if you're not enjoying it now do you think that will change in another 20-30 years?
"You're going to wind up..."
Not investing. If you are still living with your parents rent-free and working, please - I BEG YOU - open a Roth IRA and just put $20 each paycheck into a simple ETF. Compounding interest will make a gigantic difference in your life.
If you are 18, you probably have around 45 years until retirement. Let's say you only put in $20 each paycheck for your entire life and got a pretty average return on your investment.
You're going to wind up with around $300,000.
No, that's not all the money in the world, but that's just from $20 per paycheck.
If you're in that age group and you have questions about getting started, DM me. I'm not a financial advisor. I have nothing to sell you. But I can at least point you in the right direction and answer a couple of questions. You just need to start doing this.
"Stop comparing."
Stop comparing. Get off social media or seriously reduce it. Worrying won't get you anywhere. Little steps toward goals count. We are all gonna die in the end so have fun along the way. Try to be honest with yourself even when it's painful. Don't be too nice. Be aware you will change over time and that's not a failing, it's expected. Be willing to do things differently, slower, faster, or not at all - but be you. Cherish the one you love and try to be loving. Don't aim for perfection it doesn't exist. If you've got trauma (most do), go to therapy, not as a punishment as an act of self-interest.
Lastly. You are enough. A special job or loads of money won't make you more. Being broke or vulnerable won't make you less. Life has ebbs and flows. Accept that, and you'll be okay.
True words of wisdom.
Less time on social media would be great for everyone.
"Not because I don't believe in love..."
I wouldn't classify it as the worst mistake, but I'd say early marriages. Not because I don't believe in love, but because it's sometimes an impulsive decision that leads to heartbreak. When you're young and in love, you think about here and now. Sometimes you don't even know yourself that well, let alone your partner. Grow together a little, live together for a minute, get to know each other. That would build a much stronger foundation for your family. At least in my opinion.
Of course, there are always some nice exceptions, I know that too.
Indeed there are.
Someone I care about very much fell into an early marriage and was divorced by the age of 22. It was a lot for them to deal with at the time and they are just now recovering.
"There can be a lot of downsides..."
Don't be afraid to change course. There can be a lot of downsides going through your mind but if you're not happy with how things are going in the classes you are taking imagine what actually being in the field will be like.
Words of wisdom all around.
Your twenties are a valuable period in your life––in many ways, they shape the person you will become as life deals you experiences and you learn more about yourself along the way.
Those of you out of your twenties? What advice would you share with twenty-somethings? Feel free to share in the comments section below!
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Women Explain Which Things They Wish Men Would Stop Doing
Reddit user enkiv2 asked: 'Women of Reddit, what's something specific that you wish men would stop doing?'
We all have things that we enjoy and things that we absolutely can't stand, and that's also totally true of the things that people do around us or do to us.
And women have something to say about men's behavior, how they treat women, and what women would like them to stop doing, effective immediately.
Redditor enkiv2 asked:
"Women of Reddit, what's something specific that you wish men would stop doing?"
Clean Hands Required
"Stop trying to touch me (in any way) with dirty hands. Go clean your talons first."
- isthishowweadult
Know When to Stop Flirting
"If a woman tells you she's a lesbian when you're flirting, it means one of two things:"
"1: She is a lesbian."
"2: She is pretending to be a lesbian so you'll stop flirting with her."
"Either way, you should stop flirting with her."
- BW_Bird
No Unsolicited Pics
"Please stop sending d**k pics to random women online. It's just straight-up creepy and gross. If a woman wants to see your d**k, she'll ask for a picture."
- F**K_INDUSTRIAL
Take Rejection Gracefully
"Stop harming or threatening harm to women who reject them."
- prezzyofthedgc
End All Body-Shaming
"Stop being mean to girls they find unattractive."
- webbrlx
The Alpha Male
"Stop calling yourself an 'alpha' or 'sigma' male."
"You aren’t necessarily hurting anyone by doing it, but no one takes you seriously when you talk like that."
"I think people who call themselves Sigma consider themselves 'lone wolf' types. In my opinion, I think they’re trying to come across as one step less douchey by not believing they exist to boss people around, but it is clearly ineffective."
- aliteralbagof_d**ks
Step Aside
"When you need to get past me, please don't put your hands on my waist/hips/lower back to move me aside. I don't know you. Stop touching me."
- teddybearer79
Don't Make Me Laugh
"Just because a woman is not smiling, it is not your job to change that."
- Idol_Luna
Just No
"No is a complete sentence."
"Sorry, I was bored at work, so this was a bit short. What I meant is, if you are in a relationship with a guy, no would be a short, perhaps cold answer, but I don't think that's what OP meant."
"I meant it as, if a guy bothers you for any reason, like he wants your phone number or any socials you don't want to give him, you don't need to provide a reason, because a simple no should be enough. Unfortunately, a lot of men (yes I know, not all) won't take just a no for an answer and must know the reason, because whatever."
"So, to answer the original question: I wish some guys would just accept a simple no and would stop asking again and again and again for something that has already been answered with a no."
- H**lKaiserFox
Not "Like a Girl"
"Thinking that being a woman is a reason for her mistakes."
"I was one of the only three girls in an engineering course (of 60 people). And if I did a mistake in class, it was because I was a girl. But if my male coursemate made a mistake, it is only because humans are not perfect, and next time he will do better."
- Hezal05
Commitment and Loyalty
"Stop acting like they’re single while having a girlfriend."
- Sea-Dark-4953
Weaponized Incompetence
"Stop practicing weaponized incompetence."
- Kaitzilla
"What does that mean? I’d look it up, but women are just naturally better at researching things."
- orchidofthefuture
Show Some Manners
"Stop spitting on the floor in public. Why do they do it?"
- fruitmachine_future
Better to Be Safe than Sorry
"Stop dismissing our safety concerns and trying to gaslight us out of taking basic precautions."
- Raaqu
Not Everyone Is Compatible
"If a woman says she doesn’t want children, don’t respond by saying she doesn’t know better."
"I don't know where you guys get off of telling a grown woman that she doesn’t know what she wants, but it needs to stop. If she doesn't want children, respect her decision, and date someone else."
- sunny_rain316
We've surely all done something that bothered someone else in the room, whether that person told us or not. But there are certain behaviors that men practice so frequently that women have a response ready, just for this occasion.
While men surely have their annoyances regarding women, they surely could learn something from this list just the same.
Why do people fear the unknown?
It's a phenomenon that continues to elude us and drives some people to have preconceived notions that drive them to behave in ways that can be regretful.
But it turns out that many of the things in life that we cower over are actually harmless.
Curious to hear examples of these, Redditor Michaelrays asked:
"What is something that is way less dangerous than people think it is?"
There's not much to fear about traveling.
Getting From Point A To B
"Public transportation. It’s insanely safe by number of miles traveled and most of the security issues come with too few people using it."
– DeLaRey
Caribbean Vortex
"The Bermuda Triangle, particularly with modern navigation equipment."
– Chairchucker
"Man, I was so stressed about the Bermuda Triangle when I was a kid. It didn't matter I was living thousands of miles away."
– whatissevenbysix
Air Travel
"Flying"
– Ok_Distance9511
"Me with a terrible fear of planes, hoping to god that flying would be the top comment for my own peace. Thank you haha"
– Mojavecowgirl
Statistics Prove...
"It’s crazy because I totally get the statistics and how insanely astronomically unlikely it is to die in a plane crash but I still need a mg of Lorazepam to get on a plane."
– AtG8605
We were so easily influenced as kids.
Avoiding Stomach Cramps
"Swimming after eating - I used to fully believe I would drown in seconds if I didn’t wait a full hour before getting back in the water."
– Kind_Lettuce580
Gimme Something Good To Eat
"Trick or treating on Halloween. Kids are not getting poisoned by candy from strangers."
– Fishercat5000
Ruined Holiday
"You know, I hate this so bad because Halloween is the best holiday."
"It's a community experience, and it all happens with surprisingly little planning or organization. The kids and their parents go out and interact with their community in a very casual way. Something real special about that, we just don't have events where everybody in the neighborhood comes together like this, it's socially healthy to participate in shared experiences with people near you."
"But then the poisoned candy thing comes in - stay home, don't trust your neighbors, don't be social, stay home and be afraid. I hate it, this represents a great deal of what is wrong with everything."
– Catshit-Dogfart
Leaving The Bait
"Leaving your foot hanging out of the bed covers."
– Frozenlime
"Nice try, monster under the bed"
– Aneryn111
Redditors dissect how we view others.
Stranger Danger
"Strangers. Most of the violent crimes you hear happen between acquaintances."
– el_monstruo
"I grew up in the 80s. The message was 'stranger danger' 24/7. Above all: don't get into a car with someone you don't know. Then moving into the internet age, the addendum '...with someone you met online.'"
"Fast forward to today...I summon an Uber to do just that."
– BertramScudder
The Lonely
"People who have no/few friends"
"Most of the time they're either weird, shy, socially awkward, quiet, or simply just prefer to be alone."
– RadiantHC
The Quiet Ones
"Yeah I never understood how kids go from picking on someone for reading rather than disrupting the class to doubling down when they continue to be quiet because most of their social interactions have been bullies. Sometimes quiet is just being unproblematic."
– Industrialpainter89
When I was a kid, roller coasters genuinely freaked the mud outta me.
Watching passengers willingly going on a speeding ride vehicle that makes them scream in terror? I didn't get it.
I avoided riding Space Mountain at Disneyland because I heard it was a roller coaster in the dark. That's even worse.
I finally caved to peer pressure and went on Space Mountain when I was 15, and I fell in love with the ride.
After exiting the attraction building, I was so mad at myself for letting my fear get the best of me, leading me to miss out on all the times I could have ridden the ride when I was tall enough.
Every now and then, we find ourselves sharing a truly unbelievable experience we just had with a friend.
As we see their eyebrows raise in doubt, our inclination is of course to revert to that age-old saying "you had to see it to believe it".
However, even if we were the lucky (or, possibly, unlucky) ones to be in this bizarre predicament, that doesn't make explaining it any easier.
In fact, more often than not, we can't offer anything close to a logical explanation of what transpired, and still find ourselves lying awake in bed at night trying to figure out what just happened.
"People who have seen something they could never explain. What was the thing?!"
Help From The Great Beyond...
"Shortly after my mother passed away I was going through and organizing her belongings in her room."
"I was talking out loud as if I were talking to her."
"There were some boxes with family photo albums I’d been looking for that I hadn’t been able to find and it was really worrying me."
"I was sitting on the floor and said aloud 'where did you leave those albums, mom?'"
"Very slowly, her closet door opened on its own."
"A slow, creaking movement from nearly totally closed to halfway open."
"I was as terrified as I’d ever been in my life."
"I froze and didn’t move, but I looked at exactly eye level and there was a cardboard box labeled 'Albums' in my mothers handwriting on the lower shelf of the closet."
"I am not a religious or even spiritual person, and I thought that there might be some imbalance in the hanging of the closet door."
"I went back to the door many times and tested it by wiggling it back and forth and leaving it in different positions but it’s never moved that way since."- Virtual-Elderberry31
It's Coming From Within The House...
"In my early 20s I was home alone."
"I woke up to my cell phone ringing but missed the call."
"The phone number I missed the call from was my home phone number."
"I got up and found the cordless phone on the kitchen counter."
"I looked everywhere, but no one was in the house and the doors were all locked."- Sapphire_Sunshine
Scared Leave Me Alone GIFGiphyWhere To Even Begin...
"I fly helicopters for a living."
"I was working on a power line one year and was going back to our landing zone and noticed an opening in the trees what appeared to be a leg."
"I came back and tried to get as low as I could into the clearing, thinking, it was a person, it was a full grown cow that had been completely skinned."
"There were no farms around and the animal didn’t appear to be cut up in anyway."
"I went back to the landing zone picked up one of my Ground crew members and flew back with him just so he could verify that I wasn’t crazy."
"The flight back, we were both kind of in awe because we have no idea how that animal got to where it’s at."
"Even more so that it had no skin on its entire body, it looked like a perfect cow sans skin."- Machismo0311
An Unknown Friend When He Needed One
"Not me, but my dad."
"When I was younger, my biological mom and her husband kidnapped me and took off to another state."
"My dad said that he was finally starting to accept that he may never see me again after nearly a year of searching, and then one day when he was on a walk, this little girl came up to him and asked, 'are you looking for a little girl?'"
"He looked at her, confused, and she just turned around and pointed up the block at a group of kids playing, and said, 'she's right there!"
"He walked closer, passed the girl, to try to get a better look and saw me in the group."
"He turned around to figure out what the little girl's deal was, and she was just gone, without a trace."
"Turns out my bio mom and her husband had come back to visit family for whatever reason."
"I used to call bs because the story is just so insane, but throughout the years, it's the one story of my dad's that never changed."
"Not one detail."
"He's told it so many times that I can recite it word for word, and he's always so f*cking awestruck when he tells it."
"Like I can almost see him racking his brain, searching for the most logical explanation."
"I was ~2-3 when it happened, and I'm now 26."
"He still can't piece it all together to this day."- Western_Avocado9027
homer simpson hugs GIFGiphyA Universal Vision...
"Was talking on the phone to my dad in the garden, about 15 years ago."
"Saw an orange light slowly come up over some trees behind my house then take off straight up at a ridiculous speed."
"Stood there in silence and so did he."
"Explained to him what I’d just seen and he said he’d just seen the exact same thing."
"He was over 100 miles away in Manchester at the time."- srsly_organic
Good Thing It Landed Where It Did...
"I was walking along a park sidewalk blowing off grass clippings."
"Got under some pine trees and through a break in the canopy an 8-10 pound rock came tumbling out of the sky, bounced and chipped the sidewalk and rolled down into a creek."
"Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen."- RickPickle5280
It Can Be A Fine Line Between Dreams And Reality...
"When I was ~19 or 20 and first living on my own, I woke up in the middle of the night once to a pitch black room, but realized I could 'see' as if everything in my room was subtly outlined in a reddish glow."
"I closed my eyes and could still see the exact same thing."
"I then covered my eyes with my hands, but could still 'see'."
"I even got up and tested it by walking around my house with my eyes closed and was able to navigate around all obstacles and even see things like cups on the counters and able to pick them up without missing them."
"After a little bit of this, I turned on the light to confirm everything was where it was, and when I turned the lights back off the effect was gone."
"Overall it lasted about 10 minutes and has never happened again."
"My best guess is that I was still half dreaming and my brain was just able to very accurately represent my memory of where everything was."
"But even if that's the case, I'm very impressed with my brain's half asleep ability to form a full 3d representation of my environment as I'm moving and manipulating small objects."
"Either that, or I discovered a latent superpower."- Shaggyfort1e
scared butters stotch GIF by South Park GiphyAlways Be Cautious Before Following The Light...
"Me and my brother saw light coming through a bricked-off vent in my house about 20 years ago."
"It was a powerful light like there was a mini sun in there."
"Light has never come through it before or since and we both still remember it."- Gutgulper
Some People Are Very Easily Scared.
"My nephew was pointing at a picture on the wall saying 'boo!' and laughing, then the picture fell onto the desk below it."- HouseOfZenith
Maybe Just A Very Good Hiding Job?
"A voice sounding like my friend's sister calling out his name from a tree line in a park, me and friend were walking home near the middle of the night, both of us heard it."
"He was called out 3 times."- Brexrker
film meditating GIF by The Orchard FilmsGiphyHas This Happened Before?
"Actually I still don't understand the concept of Deja Vu."
"It happens to me about twice a year since I was around 18 years old (I'm 44)."
"Just random places or experiences that I swear I have seen and been through before."
"It's so strange."- Nairbfs79
What's More Baffling, The Chainsaws, Or The Nice Clothes?
"A tree fell in front of us while we were driving."
"It almost killed us."
"Moments later a group of men dressed in nice clothes just happened to have chainsaws in their car, that was black and black tinted windows."
"They started cutting up the tree."
"We quickly turned around and said 'nope'."
"I tried to tell myself that it was just Mormons, who happened to have chainsaws in the back of their car."
"I called my mom the other day to see if she still remembers that incident and she does."- Etherealdildoexpert
Who hasn't found themself in an experience they can't explain at least once in their life.
But rather than agonizing in finding the logic behind it, sometimes the best thing to do is avoid looking for an explanation.
And just accept it as a bizarre, one-off experience.
Who knows the perfect thing to utter after a night of carnal passion?
It's especially vexing after a first time together.
All that anticipation and wonder can be surpassed or completely destroyed.
So often, every syllable can count.
But there is certainly a list of what not to do in these situations.
And... they're pretty basic.
Redditor AMGBOI69420 wanted to discuss all the best ways to ruin the moment, so they asked:
"What’s the worst thing you can say right after having sex?"
The worst I have ever said to someone is, "Morning. Sorry, I forgot your name."
Oh BOO!!
Friends Tv GIFGiphy"My ex-husband was a virgin when we met. After his first time, he said, 'I don't know why people seem to enjoy that so much.'"
"THANKS, BOO."
StrangersWithAndi
Wow Really?!
"True story..."
"My partner and I of 8 years lost our virginities to each other. He grew up in a very sex-sheltered home and I grew up in a sex-positive one. We waited until our second-year anniversary, as we wanted to make sure he was ready before we started."
"We had sex and I thought it was great, but he gets up and puts his underwear back on, muttering."
"'That wasn't worth it.'"
"God d**n it hurt, but he was referring to the anxiety he had over sex, not the sex itself. We laugh about it now."
Eas_Mackenzie
I Tried
"I think I'll go back to being gay."
AlertWar2945
"Reminds me of an episode of King of the Hill where Hank finds out Peggy lost her virginity to her friend to see if he was really gay."
"I just remember Peggy talking about how unsure he was about it but after doing the deed with her how extremely sure he was that he was gay."
No-Significance2113
Check
"Now let’s go over your performance review."
repwin1
"You joke but I had a guy send me a Google form after sex so I could give him feedback on how he did."
single-left-sock
"Honestly though that would be hilarious. Like after you're done you reach under the bed and pull out a clipboard with a bunch of things in a checklist and a review section, then sign and stamp it and give it to them."
yamanamawa
I wish I could say I believe that no person could say these things, but... I know people.
Why cheat? Why?
No Touching
"From a former FWB who never cuddled after sex and when I asked him once he said he had to leave to 'defrost some hot dogs for a party tomorrow' …a party that I wasn’t even invited to."
FishyBricky
"I mean, if he communicated with you that he did not want to cuddle and did not want anything deeper than just sex, I don't see why you'd be upset. It's really important to communicate each other's intentions before doing it."
DrizzlyEarth175
"To be fair, cuddling after sex releases oxytocin, which can increase bonding in ‘couples.’ FWB was probably scared of catching feelings."
"F**king hot dogs though!? 😆 that’s funny (now)."
ScumBunny
Keep it in the Family
"Pretty good but your mom was better."
tempestae
"I have said this. Or close. Got into a relationship with a girl whose mum, ten years previously I had hooked up with orally. She knew and thought it was funny. In fact one Xmas she was doing Xmas Dinner. Said 'Dan, mum will be here in an hour... help me in the kitchen. I'm not leaving you two in a room together.'"
rumbunkshus
Introductions
Big Brother What GIF by Big Brother After DarkGiphy"What's your name again?"
Leocut78
"I had a girl ask me what HER name was right before. I had no idea. She didn’t leave (or tell me her name)."
PredictBaseballBot
I’ll never forget...
"Not sure if it’s the worst but I know it hurt. I was dating this guy is hs, a varsity jock, and really cute. I could’ve sworn he had women, anyways we start dating. The first time we hooked up it sucked so bad, I looked him dead in the eye and asked him if he was a virgin. I swear the look on his face is something I’ll never forget."
AuraRiver
Well that is a whole lot of therapy bills.
I get that sometimes words just fall out of our mouths, but Lord show a little decorum.