As we all know, wisdom is earned with time and life experience. Try explaining that to youngsters when they have questions that are too complicated for them to grasp.
Kids will always be inquisitive but they usually aren't ready to receive answers–especially when the subjects are related to the concepts of romantic passion and death.
The best response to give a child when they ask about a mature topic is what Mrs. Potts (R.I.P. Angela Lansbury) told Chip in response to his observation of the budding romance between Belle and the Beast:
"I'll tell you when you're older."
Curious to hear examples of earned wisdom, Redditor dickdockdack asked:
"What is the single most 'you’ll understand it when you’re older' thing?"
Getting older can be unpleasant over time. But children need not worry about it until they have to."
Unexplainable Ailments
"Health issues. I know I've been genetically lucky, but after 20, random sh*t just starts happening for no reason. It's like Darryl developing a soy allergy at 35, who develops a soy allergy at 35?"
– hey_there_kitty_cat
Kids, when your grade school classmates stop pulling your hair and you stop retaliating mercilessly, you'll learn a thing or two about the people you call "friends."
Value Of Friendship
"That the quality rather than quantity of friends matters."
– pinetreeroad
Sure, Everyone Is Cordial, BUT
"Good people aren't always nice people, and vice versa."
– bibbidibobbidi-bacon
High Stakes
"High school drama isn’t important. Like, at all."
– lalondtm
Kids Are Influential
"Understanding why your parents wanted you to go play with the awkward kid, or why they were so keen to help you make friends."
"It's beyond annoying as a kid when your parents try to guide who make friends with, but most parents instinctually know that bad social habits start early, are hard to break, and can be a real burden when you are older."
– zazzlekdazzle
They Come And Go
"Friendships fading away."
"I remember my dad telling me all kinds of cool stories about things him and his friends did in the past. I even asked him 'why aren't you still friends with these people?' He really did basically say 'it's complicated, you'll understand when you're older.' Even back then I remember thinking 'that's crazy, me and my friends will always be friends."'
"Sitting here now in my early 30's and it really hits home."
– Slowjams
Here are some honorable mentions.
Passing On "Luxuries"
"Can we get McDonald's? No we have food at home."
– ninten-dont
Kitchen Rule
"Why it’s so annoying when you forget to take the chicken out of the freezer."
– steviebergwijn
Convenience Of Zapping Food
"Man, I don’t know how parents in particular survived before the microwave oven. I’m a reasonably not-incompetent home cook, I understand there’s nothing you can do with a microwave that you can’t do without one - but doing without requires a lot more time, attention, and planning ahead, all of which are in very short supply with little kids underfoot."
"Also, unsolicited LPT: use the lower power settings, they do take longer, but they allow the heat to diffuse out of the 'hot spots' faster than it accumulates, so you get a nice, evenly-heated meal, and not an ice salad with lava dressing."
– bonos_bovine_muse
Getting old is a cruel fact of nature.
Loneliness Hits Hardest
"Why elderly people in nursing homes who get no visitors are so lonely and filled with despair."
– Back2Bach
Hardest Decisions
"We had to put my mom in a home because we physically could not care for her anymore. She didn’t want to be there and we didn’t want her to be. But there weren’t any other options."
"My dad was there every day until he got sick and died. My sister and I stopped in a couple of times a week each. The last month of her life I was there every day."
"I hope she knew I did the best I could to take care of her."
– BlondieeAggiee
We currently live in a fast-paced society where youngsters almost always have play dates, birthday parties, county fairs to attend, etc.
This is to be expected as kids are always needing to be stimulated.
Little do they know of the inevitability of doing nothing becomes a luxury to look forward to.
Until then, younglings, live life to the fullest and your reward of chilling out will come when you have learned to recognize it.
People Divulge The 10 Second Message They'd Send To Their 10-Year-Old Self
What would you change? What would you warn against? What mattered and what didn't?
Some of the many questions we think about when reflecting back on our lives. How would we do it better?
Is there a way to do it better? Was doing our best the best way?
What if we could tell our younger self the truth? What would we say in a quick message to let that child know... about everything yet to come?
Redditor BabyPapayas wanted to hear about what wisdom we all have to share with our past selves, so they asked:
"You meet 10 year old you. You have 10 seconds only. What do you say?"
I want 10 year old me to hear... "BE STRONGER. BE KINDER. DON'T DRINK. SMILE MORE!"
That's just me.
Seriously?!
"Don't pee in that mail box for 20 bucks it's not worth the butt beating." ~ patchman101
GiphyHealth First
"To go tell mom to stay regular with her breast cancer screenings because it could save her life. It never gets any easier." ~ GlitteringBrother880
"I'm on the same boat as you. What I wouldn't do for a time machine :/ lost my mom two months ago. She fought breast cancer for ten years after they caught it at stage 4. I imagine what it could have been like if she caught it at stage 0/1." ~ DaughterOfWarlords
Buy/Sell
"Buy Bitcoin when it comes out and sell it in 2021. Do it or I'll come back and kill you in your sleep." ~ GaeOfHormuz
"People forget one important detail. It was a pain in the butt to get your hands on bitcoin and crypto when it first started. It's not like today where you pick from multiple brokers. You had to jump through hoops and I regret knowing it was going to become big and not jumping through them. Even a couple dollars would have made me set for life." ~ Nevek_Green
Bye Dad
"Go talk to Dad before he dies, you will miss him." ~ JayceeZooms
"Mine would be more like 'don't give up on talking to him."'
"He bounced when I was 3 and we could never track him down. He finally reached out when I was 19 and we talked like 3 times, but he was always drunk and kept losing his phone and getting new numbers. I stopped trying and figured we'd talk when he got his crap together."
"In 2018 I got the call that he had died drunk and homeless. I don't know that there's anything I could have done for him, but I know I didn't try. I know that he told people how much he loved his daughters. I know that he died alone on the streets with a BAC of %.43." ~ legendariel
Good Luck
"Pay attention in school, talk to your parents about depression, baseball instead of martial arts, and west instead of east. Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it." ~ MaximumZer0
GiphyAll sound advice.
Are we listening?
We don't have to just be 10.
Love You
"Stand up for yourself. Don't be a pushover. Avoid hard drugs. You're autistic, you don't have to try so hard to be like everybody else. Finish college. Appreciate the time you spend with grandma. You are not fat." ~ NoTomatoExtraPickles
GiphyYou're Ok
"You are NOT broken and there's NOTHING wrong with you. It's ok to not love or want to ever date. It's ok. (Contexts I'm aromantic and for the longest time I thought something to was wrong or broken with me)." ~ SilverSoulFox
"Ah you're ok. Yeah I do experience sexual attraction/desire but not romantic attraction. If asked I would say I'm Bisexual. But for romantic stuff nope notta. In general I'm Indifferent but when the romantic gestures/advances are directed at me I am repulsed... I catch on someone is being flirty/trying to get a date. I don't pick up on subtitle acts sometimes. 😅" ~ SilverSoulFox
Never Her
"Stay away from Courtney. For real every one named Courtney just ignore and live ur freaking life without years of depression and crap. Also, learn you're languages now." ~ Be-he-life
Bad Bloodlines
"Your family are a bunch of a**holes, there's nothing wrong with you. Don't try to fix them, they have no interest in becoming other people and there's nothing you can do about it. Get the hell out of there as soon as you can, you are a good person and deserve better." ~ Actual_grass
Read
"Read this 500 page book I wrote for you. It's advice on everything for the next 30 years, investment tips, life tips, sports gambling tips, etc. stick to the book kid." ~ SweatyGizmo
Tell me More...
"'It'll be okay.'"
"Just something that nobody really told me as my depression habits started developing." BboyTeddyB
Giphyi need time to reflect, as does 10 year old me.
So much to think about.
Listen up people...
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When we're in the throes of a mental health crisis, or even just a very rough day, it's hard to zoom out. In that mental space, every negative thought is convincing, even alluring to cling to.
We grow so used to those defined grooves of anxiety and sadness that we forget there's another version of thinking, feeling, and interpreting all that happens within and around us.
So an outsider's perspective is huge.
Even the smallest piece of advice from a compassionate, intentional person can be enough to lurch us out of the funk--or at least get us started on the climb out.
Redditor sushi4vendetta asked:
"What is the best mental health advice you were ever given?"
Many shared the advice they've received that helped them remember the problems with the word "should." They realized that they needed to accept that, yes, they're not feeling so good.
But it doesn't last forever.
Temper Expectations
"Happiness isn't meant to be a constant state. The aim is contentment/comfortability, not constant unwavering happiness."
A Different Way of Looking Forward
"You don't have to be hopeful about tomorrow. Just curious about what's to come."
"Changed my outlook completely on life when it's going poorly."
Accept and Understand First
"allow yourself to feel how you're feeling."
"I get caught up in how I want to feel or how I think I should be feeling that I never really processed my emotions properly and dragged out grief etc longer than I needed to. I now remind myself that I shouldn't think I'm stupid or pathetic for still being upset about something."
-- lillyko_i
Would Anyone Else Be So Mean?
"If your best friend came to you saying they were having trouble in the same circumstances you're dealing with, would you be as hard on them as you are on yourself?"
"Would you stay friends with someone who treated you the way you treat yourself? What would it be like if you treated yourself with the same kindness and consideration as you would your best friend. Why not actually do that?"
Some discussed the importance of taking care of themselves. Sometimes we get too used to destroying ourselves to avoid upsetting the apple cart.
Only You Can Stick Your Neck Out
"You have to advocate for yourself, nobody is going to do the work for you." -- Shad0wD0gg
"Friend of mine says that you gotta have Pom poms out for yourself all the time- and for the people you care about. I liked this a lot." -- Impossible_Fold5059
Too Selfless
"Don't light yourself on fire to keep others warm." -- no1ofconsequencedied
"Tbh I needed to hear this" -- GodMomItsNotAPhase
"Exception: I would light myself on fire to save my daughter" -- Please_Log_In
Know Your Limits
"Set healthy boundaries and stick to them." -- tomographer
"thank you for saying this. Every time I used to set a boundary with my ex, he'd be like 'why are you giving me an ultimatum???' "
"A**hole, it's because I need to." -- FlurriesofFleuryFury
And others shared advice of a more pragmatic flavor.
Accepting the Context
"Me 'I don't want special tests or meds. I want to be on the same playing field as everyone else.' "
"Counselor 'you already are not on the same playing field' "
-- emscurtis
The Depression Zone
"I stopped watching the news because current world events just don't mix well with my anxiety. Like, at all. I'm sick of humanity's petty politics, and I'd rather tend to my own life." -- JoshuaSlowpoke777
Mental is Physical is Mental
"Simply to see a doctor about it when necessary."
"I was a competitive figure skater growing up and my coach was in the 2002 olympics and she said to me 'if you break your leg you go to the doctor right? So why would you not take care of your mind like any other part of your body' that sticks with me today"
Hopefully the next time you find yourself in a funk, one of these fires across your thoughts and it's at least enough to help you start to regroup.
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The brain is the most fascinating of organs and body parts. It can hold an obscene amount of information.
That's the secret to all these Jeopardy winners, they're not so smart, just incredible human storage units.
I can tell my you childhood address, the lyrics to every Adele song and scripts to Golden Girls episode, and nonsense facts about crayons (I don't know why). Ain't that all something?
It is all tucked away in the crevices of the mind.
Redditor u/JustAMildKingpin wanted to hear about all the things saved in our brains for reasons unknown by asking:
What's the most random fact you know about?
We all have random thoughts and tidbits ready to be shared, and most of the time we have no idea how we acquired the information. But it all does make for interesting dinner conversation.
Lefties
Happy The Simpsons GIF by FOX International ChannelsGiphy"I used to always notice that Bart Simpson is left-handed, and then someone pointed out that pretty much everyone in Springfield is left-handed. I cant unsee it."
In the Saddle
"One horse is 15 horsepower at a sprint."
"Well a horse power is the measure of the power a horse can output sustained for a whole day."
"EDIT FOR CLARITY: a horse can sustain a specific amount of energy over a 24hr period without dying. 1 horsepower is the power at any given instance (assuming the horse is working consistently).The reason this is power and not energy is because it only measures the rate the horse is working, not the total output of the horse over the whole day."
- Jalibut
The Shutter
"You can't turn off the shutter sound on mobile phones in Japan. The reason for this is because up skirt photography is common and to reduce it they decided to add sound to make it easier to spot the pervert."
"It used to be true on all Samsung phones. That and turning the volume up past halfway for more than a few minutes, would cause a voice to warn about hearing loss, and it would turn back down."
Facts of the Leader
"There has only been one US President arrested while in office, and it was Grant on the charge of speeding and reckless driving in his horse & buggy."
"Since we're spouting presidential facts:"
"If you flip a penny and call heads, you're technically right on either side it lands."
"There's a tiny Lincoln in the memorial on the back. 'Heads'."
In Code
code GIFGiphy"I recently discovered that the word Snafu is actually a military acronym for "situation normal, all f**ked up". I thought it was just a word."
I gotta write all that down. And now I have to start watching "The Simpsons." Which I stopped watching decades ago. We're all a bunch of encyclopedias just roaming around. Tell me more...
Spray Off
Meme Reaction GIF by Salon LineGiphy"If a group of penguins feel threatened, they put the women and children in the middle and form a huge circle around them with the males facing inwards, and they spray their crap out to fend off predators."
The Higher Pitch
"You hate the sound of your recorded voice because it's missing the low frequency you're used to hearing. When you talk, you hear your voice as it goes to the air and back to you ear. It also goes through your skull to your ear, and this bone conduction mechanism transmits the low frequencies better than air does."
"Your recorded voice only has the air transmitted sound. That causes the dissonance between what you think your voice sounds like, and what it really does. It's also why your voice will always be higher pitch than you think."
Sad Facts
"Omaha Nebraska was fire bombed by Japan during WW2. No casualties and residents weren't aware until the next morning."
"Japan launched 9000 balloons with fire bombs attached into the wind. They hit 26 states as well as Canada and Mexico. Nobody was hurt except in Oregon, where an unexploded bomb killed a woman and five children. The whole incident was covered up so that it wouldn't scare the public during the war."
When Mating...
"The cicada mating call is made by males chirping really loudly, which we all know. But you didn't know that the females' positive response is made by clapping her wings together, which sounds almost exactly like snapping your fingers."
"So if there's a tree of horny cicadas in your backyard that won't shut the hell up, walk over to it and start snapping your fingers to catfish them into being quiet and trying to find the dtf female. If you're lucky one might catch on and land on your arm!"
The Fall
Killer Whales Ocean GIF by TJ FullerGiphy"When a whale dies, it falls to the bottom of the ocean. This phenomenon is called a whale fall and an entire small ecosystem can thrive on the carcass for a few years!"
That whale fall is very dramatic. How did we not hear about it sooner? Some facts I could def do without. But I feel one step closer to Jeopardy. You?
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Sometimes, we all could use a little push--even if that comes from the notes of wise person who died years ago.
It's important for us to remember that we are not even close to the first generation of human beings. There are so many people who've come and gone before us.
And no matter how ancient or historic their lifestyle seems compared to our own, they still inhabited a body filled with worries, a sense of time passing, and the need to interact with others.
So it's no surprise that quotes from the near and distant past all still feel so appropriate to our own experience. And thanks to the internet, we can share so many of them with others who may need that clarity.
Apparently in the market for a little inspiration, Redditor internallyskating asked:
"What's a quote that permanently changed the way you look at things?"
Anxiety affects countless people all over the. Of course, many people shared the quotes that have helped them put their worries aside and live life with a bit more presence.
You Have a Choice
" 'Let go or be dragged' and old zen proverb I heard at a meditation class. Really changed the way I let myself worry about things"
-- Reagan99
Can't Please 'Em All
" 'You might be the sweetest peach on the tree, but some people just don't like peaches.' "
"This helped me get over my lifelong desire to be liked by everyone, and allowed me to focus on becoming someone I actually liked."
-- sansaspark
The Humor Inside Anxiety
" 'I've had a lot of worries in my life. Most of which never happened.' "- Mark Twain.
"Found it on a workbook for anxiety disorders."
-- Metoposaurus
Others have used quotes to help themselves persevere through both specific challenges as well as the long, winding experience of life as a whole.
Either way, some quotes to refresh perspective can provide the perfect push.
A New Kind of Courage
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes it is a quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' '-Maryann Radmacher"
"I came across this a long time ago, at a point in life that I really needed this lesson. It's okay if I feel sad and resigned, if my depression beat me for today and I wasn't able to function. I didn't fail, I'm not weak, I will try again tomorrow."
Just Go For It
"Dear Abby's response to a writer thinking of going back to school but worried that she will be 40 by the time she got her degree -"
" How old will you be in four years if you don't get your degree? You are going to be 40 anyway with or without your degree.'"
"It reminded me that letting age stop me from my plans was just silly. Also, working at a community college and seeing so many people going back to school in their 30s, 40s, 50s and thriving, the quote really spoke to me."
-- Coconut-bird
First Things First
" 'The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.' - Terry Pratchett"
"I'm not sure why this quote struck me so hard, but it completely changed the way I approach writing. Just get your ideas down in run-on sentences and asides to yourself and loads of [???] at parts you haven't figured out yet. It took me more than 30 years to realize that a first draft isn't just a rough version of the final draft. It's a map for yourself, and no one else."
Finally, so many people are out here walking around carrying extra weight. It's just too hard to live a long life without picking things up along the way and clinging to them, as toxic as they are.
But some folks offered advice on letting it all go.
Self-Destruction
"Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die" -- ocbbelife
" 'When seeking revenge dig two graves.' - Confucius" -- Cain_Soren
"All the negative emotions, regardless of whether or not they're meant for someone else, sit inside us. Let them go, not because the others deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace." -- TheLordOfFriendZone
You Don't Have to Hold It All
" 'That mountain you've been carrying, you were only suppose to climb' "
"Really helped me overcome a lot of traumatic experiences and difficult chapters in my life. I hope it helps someone else out there."
-- youssless
Prioritizing
" 'When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.' - C. S. Lewis" -- nolo_me
"Goddamn this resonates. Take being serious a little less seriously and you'll find life is a lot more interesting." -- Crackgnome
Paradoxical Barriers
" 'And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.' --John Steinbeck, East of Eden" -- Zuikis9
"The first time I read these words, I wept. Most of my life I'd enjoyed praise from my family, friends, and colleagues for being 'outstanding' even as many of them relished in reminding me what a perfectionist I was. Not only did Steinbeck give me permission to seek something other than perfection, he gave my a nobler aim to center my efforts around."
"Around the same time I encountered a Latin phrase that means 'To be rather than to seem to be.' Turns out it's a whole lot harder to pretend to be good (while not actually being the thing) than it is to pretend to be perfect. And, thankfully, it's a lot more difficult to convince yourself into believing an untruth about yourself when you can't even convince other people of it."
"I'm neither perfect nor good, but I know which one I'd rather be." -- Lex_Orandi
Here's hoping at least one--and ideally, more--of these quotes offered you some new perspective to get throughout whatever challenges you're facing these days.
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