My youngest brother turns 18 in a few weeks’ time and he asked me the other day what single piece of advice I would give him based on my own experiences.
Thing is, I’m only 24 myself, so I’m not exactly in a much of a position to comment (I got as far as “speed bumps are ineffective if you are driving faster than 90mph”)…
… but I thought that the SDMB would be the ideal place to ask!
So, then… if YOU could give one piece of advice to a lad (or lass!) about to enter the wonderful world of adulthood, what would it be…?
[sub]NB. All submissions gratefully accepted, serious or otherwise… :D[/sub]
They are not yet adults… I am 24 myself and I help run a youth group on occaision… who all take thier lives way too seriously…
They would talk about thier relationships… school… parents… etc…
So I always offer the advice to not take life so seriously…
This is the time to have fun… You don’t yet have to be an adult.
in a few years you will be stuck like me working 40 hours a week, with maybe 2 weeks off a year…
If you are not having fun then something isn’t right.
You only get to be 18-22 once so make the most of it.
Wear sunscreen.
No, seriously, the one piece of advice I would give is this: the sooner you realize that you are not the center of the universe, the easier it will be for you when the universe demonstrates this fact.
Gather up 100 married men, let them converse and 99 of them will agree - even those with dream wives - that they would never get married if they could go back in time.
Gather those same men up, insert on un-married man and all will lobby to the un-married man how good marriage is. Why? Well, they ain’t gonna let someone get away from avoiding the hell they got trapped in. Married men recruit single men.
Feh. Tell him to get married. I mean, the best years of his life are gone anyway, what’s he got to lose.
My real advice: Do it now. Whatever ‘it’ is - if he’s one of those people who wants to be a rock-n-roll god or actor or some other wild impossible fantasy. It’s OK to be a starving artist at 18. Not so much at 30 - people expect you to have a steady job and mom doesn’t want you sleeping on the couch any more. So do it now. If by some quirk of fate he gets what he’s after - great. If not, when he’s 40, he’ll have some good stories for the kids and fewer regrets.
Don’t waste your potential. Don’t give up your future because you’re in LUV. If it’s true LUV, it’ll still be there when you’re done with school, or whatever.
Really. I always blew it off, then I got gingivitis about a year ago. It really sucked. It’s like having athlete’s foot on your %&*$#@ gums. So, take that extra minute or two and floss, by Jebus. Take my work for it. You don’t want to suffer the heartbreak of gingivitis.
•_Get an education. Go to college, vocational school, whatever. Just get an education.
•_You are not entitled to have everything handed to you. You must work hard for whatever it is you want, including an education. Pay your dues first, then you can have expectations that the world owes you something.
