Key to Wisdom...

[astatine]

I know I am too young to be talking about wisdom and life lessons, but these are some of the things that I sincerely believe and have incorporated (at least tried to) in myself.

I generally don't address the internet as "you", but I am pretty sure most of you are procrastinating here,..yes, I see you. Get off the computer and learn that language you have always wanted to learn, talk to your old friend, do your homework!
Of course, a few years down the line, my beliefs may change, but these are the rules I am trying to abide by.

1) Don't hold your breath. Never expect.
When you expect people to act a certain way, you just end up paving way for disappointment. Think you deserve something? Don't expect them to come and gift it to you; fight for it.

2) Never regret.
Make the best of the circumstance, so that there is not regret later. If you find yourself using this statement, "Had I worked harder, I would have got the promotion." you know you have a problem.

Never regret taking a decision. I believe that everything happens for a reason, that we fail to observe due to our developed myopia. Also, even if things didn't work out, at least you gained experience.

3) Follow through.
Finish whatever you start, or don't begin at all. Period.

4) Forgive, don't forget.
Let's be honest here. I will be a complete hypocrite if I tell you to forget about those who have wronged you, about the injustice and the humiliation they have put you through.

"To err is human, to forgive is Divine". I am not Divine. Just a human, hanging in there. Don't get me wrong. I am not trying to instigate you to seek revenge and waste your time and energy. It is just improbable, come to terms with that.

5) Strive for perfection.
Pay attention to detail. Be organised, meticulously plan everything. However, if things go haywire, just breathe, and think of a temporary solution. Value quality over convenience or quantity.

6) Worship time.
In order to not regret later, make the best use of your time, and excel in whatever you pursue. If you don't excel, don't lose hope. Gear up again.

7) Accept your mistakes, in order to learn from them.
Denial is our enemy. Always remember your mistakes so that you can work on them and make yourself better.

As one grows up, sometimes it is advisable to put up a facade and not let people know our weaknesses, but at least be honest to yourself.

8) Be confident and fearless.
Never give anyone the right to put you down. Sincerely believe in yourself, your talent, your affection. Be flamboyant and approachable. Pay no heed to envious fools who will try their level best to make you stoop to their level. Be afraid of nothing but the truth and the unknown. Be untamable. Unleash the animal.

9) Hear every noise, listen to only yourself.
You can't go around pleasing every Tom, Dick and Harry. It is not your job to.
However, don't present their idea as your own. Never steal credit.

10) Love unconditionally
Love is a wonderful feeling indeed! sure, the quest for "true love" is bound to bring along a heart full of pain by worthless humans too, but without melancholy, how will we ever truly appreciate and long for happiness.

Lossen yourself up once in a while and hopelessly fall for the one. Had your heart broken? Dust yourself up, and learn from your mistakes. Don't regret it. Some time back it was exactly what you wanted. At least now you know what exactly you are looking for out there.

Never settle for anything less than love.

11) Be unaffected by Triumph and Failure.
"Treat those two imposters alike", just like Rudyard Kipling does, and asks his son to do too. Be modest after winning. You have not won for life, anyone is capable of replacing you.

Don't lose hope on losing. Everyone gets tested. Learn from your mistakes. Again, make the best use of the opportunity.

12) Work for satisfaction rather than profits.
All of us like littel perks, a hefty bonus, a promotion, being able to buy whatever the heart desires, but that should not be the only motivation.

You should work hard so that you are able to swallow that piece of bread without feeling guitly or undeserving; because you are passionate about your job; because you want to sleep soundly at night, with a clear conscience.

Don't be materialistic.

13) Be adaptable and flexible.
So they discontinued your favourite perfume. "What is the purpose of life now?!", if you start wondering and justifying your hysteria, you have some serious evaluation to do.

Move out of your comfort zone. Talk to random strangers, try new cuisines, learn a language, travel somewhere, and learn from new, wonderful experience.

14) Be realistic, but never aim small.
...and don't be afraid of failing. It is only a learning opportunity.

15) Believe in something...anything.
Believe in yourself, God, me, this site, him, her, Garfield, Frank Sinatra, Einstein, String Theory, whatever you fancy. Without believe, life holds no meaning.

16) Never be vulnerable.
This is a cruel world we live in. People will take advantage of your weaknesses, Don't let them exploit you, intentionally or unintentionally.

17) Don't be judgmental or prejudiced.
We don't know how they are being tested. Who gives us the right to judge them?
Besides, we wouldn't want to be judged harshly either.

18) Be patient.
As discussed earlier, we humans are severely myopic. If you have worked hard, you will get results. Maybe not instantly, but you will.

19) Have competitors, not enemies.
No one deserves to be your arch nemesis, unless they have killed you just for the heck of it. Don't let hatred and negativity build up, it will only end up making you a hateful, cynical, bitter, shrewd person instead. No one is worth so much of your time.

20) Work smart.
There is no way out. You have to work hard, but smartly. Even donkeys work hard. Real achievers know how much energy is to be expended to do a task efficiently.

[Phoenix98]

A good mytake but there no shortcuts or keys to wisdom so to speak, life itself, growing older, experience everything in this world plays a part in it.

[astatine]

that is true...
experience, and what we learn from them shapes our personality

[Ashely_Princess]

This actually helped me a little :) <3

[astatine]

i am glad it did!

[Ashely_Princess]

Thanks :P

[astatine]

you're welcome!

[Not_Helping]

This is very dangerous and the direct path to folly. I pray you don't actually believe in and follow these things.

[astatine]

but i do try to..
why do you think they are dangerous?

[Not_Helping]

By the numbers:

1. Knowing how to be patient and the difference between necessary aggression and necessary passivity is important. Many times people WILL give things to you, and you must let them, and a constantly aggressive attitude will not aid you in life. There's a stark difference between being ambitious (which is contradictory to not expecting things) and being pushy.

2. Regret and Regression are not the same. Let's take a game of Solitaire to express the nuances and differences. First there are two distinct types of regret, predictable and unpredictable, and both are important but are handled differently. Predictable regret, in Solitaire, is when you lose because you didn't play the best hand you could have, played lazily, or just didn't know the rules. This portion rests on you. Unpredictable regret is when you lose because you cannot see the cards and thus make mistakes unknown until the end. This portion is beyond you control. Now...

[Not_Helping]

Regret, much like guilt, is a learning tool; it's very, very healthy to regret things. When you regret foreseeable actions you stop doing them and thus set yourself up for success. When you regret unforeseeable actions you start hunting for a pattern to prevent them and thus set yourself up for success through circumvention. In Solitaire the first is when you master the rules and the latter is when you master the strategy.

Regression is an entirely different monster. It refers specifically, like shame, to regret that is carried beyond it's use. Learning to play Solitaire is one thing; getting hung up on the fact that you lost a game a week ago due to an error is an entirely different thing. Regression generally looks "like regret" because it's the root, just like guilt is to shame, but it becomes unhealthy to harbor. In general life regressive behavior would be idealization that leads to prejudices based on singular experiences rather than acquainting the trauma to say the surrounds.

[Not_Helping]

3. There's a lot of error in that. There are times when you should quit your projects. There are times when you know the project itself is an error. There are times when people will, and they are good people, warn you of your project and you should heed their council. Knowing "when" is wisdom, knowing "how" is just blind knowledge.

4. Another Regression versus Regret. Forgive and forget. Learn to circumvent instead of harbor. A person who lives by this moral law is doomed for paranoia and sadness and loneliness since keeping a tally of wrongs only does one thing and that's leave scars on the heart. That is the only place the etchings for that tally ever go. This is regressive thinking.

5. Efficiency and quality are inseparable. Choosing one over the other will never produce an optimal product.

6. The goal should not to be mindful of your time but instead of your actions. There are times when doing nothing is time well spent. Hyperactive behavior leads to folly. Sounds good on paper.

[Not_Helping]

7. You contradict with #2 and #4. You cannot learn from your mistakes if your harbor them inside yourself and you cannot learn from your mistakes if you never experience some form of regret. The irony if this is that denial is the enemy and yet you strive to deny those about you the truth of yourself but this facade becomes you. The idea that there is a separation between the two is very popular but how one behaves socially is just as much them as how one behaves privately even if extremely different. Many men have followed this advice and when caught are seen as "two-faced" when in reality they are just doing what you suggested be done denying themselves the reality that they are both men rather than just one versus the other. This is where the cradle for hypocrisy lies.

8. Learning how and when to fear things is wiser than being stupidly headstrong. Again, it's corny, and a horrible idea. Know where you stand, and how you relate to others, because sometimes they are right about you.

[Not_Helping]

... the notion of learning how to accept criticism, both positive and negative, and discern the truth of either requires that you actually understand what fear is and accept that it is a part of you. Be afraid, that is how you be bold, and let yourself at least that freedom versus trying to pretend that you fear nothing as no man will believe you anyway.

9. An extension of 8 mixed with "Be honest".

10. This contradicts this entire list. You cannot love unconditionally and not be vulnerable, wear a social mask, be dishonest to yourself, live in regression, live in fear, or believe in solidarity. Sounds good on paper.

11. Another Regression vs. Regret problem. Kipling means don't live in the past not don't allow yourself to glow. The key here is timing. Former glory should be acknowledged as should former failure but the delusion comes when non-current events are what one lives their life by. Learning to be happy when you do well and furrow when poorly will get you much further.

[Not_Helping]

12. There is a time and place for everything. Working to assuage false guilt such as the bread on your plate is foolish. Instead just take note that there is bread on your plate and eat for where it comes from is completely immaterial. The same is true of money; if you work hard to earn more money then that is as fine a goal as working hard for personal satisfaction, and why? Because they are one in the same. You cannot in the same breath dismiss materialism and talk about shame relative to what is had, owned, or consumed. Such is hypocrisy.

13. This is fine. It is a good idea.

14. This contradicts a few things in this list, namely #4, because one thing forgotten is that you can very well hold a grudge against yourself. It is one or the other, but not bother.

15. Desperately grabbing at beliefs is beyond unhealthy and cannot be considered scantily wise. One's convictions should not be based solely on the availability of an idea.

[Not_Helping]

16. Pure nonsense and the absolute height of foolishness. There is a difference between being exploited and being self-aware and willing and that difference lies solely in intention. You must be vulnerable to trust anyone, you must be vulnerable to love anyone, you must be vulnerable to not enter a regressed state, and you must be vulnerable to push into the future. Do for others without expectation, because you can, and learn to defend yourself by means of circumvention versus assault. Nothing good can come from self-isolation whether it be physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually done.

17. Know when to judge. Know when to be suspicious. What good is it to live in a world where one is to be keen of eye but unwilling to open his eyes? Do not be frivolous but do be aware. It is frivolous however to be unaware.

18. Patience is not putting in effort it's learning to gauge value and appraise effort. You can do the same backbreaking for 50 years and get less than a man who is

[Not_Helping]

patient and observant will in a day. Input and output are not directly correlated; it is patience that gives the ability to observe when something is not ever going to yield anything more but that skill is lost as an art and is now attributed to "waiting". Waiting is foolish. Whether you wait in a low position or wait in a high office you are still waiting.

19. This is not always so. There are people who do seek to undo you. And you will find yourself pitted against men who want nothing more than your blood. More often than not these individuals were past friends and acquaintances. You must not be unaware of their intentions and sadly they may be your enemies. So too may this occur in the workforce or general life; all is competition and not all are willing to lose with grace. Though I wish this were so.

20. If one is working intelligently one is not working hard. The entire idea behind efficiency is to remove such things. There is a distinct difference between Effort and Work.

[kartik1111]

Honestly one of the best i've seen here on this website. Please keep it up.😊

[astatine]

thank you!

[kartik1111]

You're Welcome.

[Rocky96]

Superb!!
Keep giving away your Key to Wisdom.
Great my take :)

[astatine]

thank you :D

[ihatethiswebsite]

I was hoping all I had to do was steal that key in your picture 😁

[astatine]

or you could do that that works too!

[astatine]

*that. that

[LovesDemBabes]

great my take :)

[astatine]

thank you!