What advice would you offer a young person, relevant to current times?
- The first thing that comes to mind, is watch what you eat. Try to keep it simple; almost anything is better than fast food.
- Learn to fix things. Girls, there may not be a man around to do it for you and boys, you don't want to be caught standing there while your gf changes your tire. For that matter, learn every practical skill possible. It will save you endless time and money and make you a lot of friends as well.
- This includes cooking! You don't want to be stuck, having to eat Mystery Meat, because you can't turn on the stove.
- Try to locate your own inner truth and guidance system and stick with it.
- If you fall, get up. If you fall hard, still get up. If you fall and break your arm, guess what? Get up. It's the fastest way to find out, you can do it and you're okay.
- Learn to say "no", but say "yes", whenever you can.
- Keep your naked body off the internet. Chances are, you will have children in the future and they aren't going to want to see that.
- Develop your own style rather than following every trend.
- Develop your own interests as well. The things you are truly interested in rather than what's pushed to your age group.
- Try to keep your old friends. Their value increases over time.
- Save some money. Consider it a practical skill, you're developing.
- It's your life so don't look outside yourself too much, in regards to what you're going to do with it.
- Learn to be alone. Get comfortable with it.
- Read.
Anyone else?
This is great advice Elsa.
I learned most of my practical skills from my mom. She has an unbelievable great reputation, always been capable and knowledgeable. She is older now, but she has accumulated lots of people willing to go above and beyond, because she has been so helpful and proactive towards them. Not that I’m young, but I try to emulate (?) that quality.
friends are very important. Value friendships, old acquaintances can turn to deep friendships.
Education isn’t just through school. You are allowed to be interested in and allowed to discuss subjects nonetheless. Take advantage of libraries and other sources of free knowledge sharing.
Be curious and interested in other people.
Dare to be happy and enthusiastic when you feel it. Enjoy the happy days , don’t take any sorrows in advance.
Perfect and timeless. I would only add -- Make time to appreciate and be nurtured by Nature. There's so much more beauty and majesty and mystery all around us than what mere humans create.
I absolutely love this and so appreciate everyone’s contributions it warmed my heart
Recognize that the majority of people will not have a "career" in the traditional sense. The kind of activity that you would do whether it paid you or not. Most people if they're lucky get a job that supports them and will allow them to indulge their passions in their free time. This is a very hard pill to swallow, I know.
Know Thyself: Explore enough to find your authentic self. Are you more oriented to people or things (engineer vs. nurse)? Would you rather work alone or with people? How much variety is essential for your personality? Do you like to fuss with details or the step back and deal with the big picture. Are you comfortable leading?
Once you find and live w/authenticity, learn to get out of your comfort zone once in awhile.
Realize your idea of what a job will be and the actual doing of it, may not match up at ALL! Before you commit to an area of study get as much practical hands on experience of typical days spent in that field.
From experience:
Keep a close friend of the opposite Sun sign from yours. I was going to say, keep a Capricorn friend, but as I'm a Cancer I wondered if that dynamic may apply to other sign polarities as well.
If going to college, take advantage of opportunities offered that will help prepare for the future - like extracurricular activities, internships, or starting an on-campus job. Even if you change direction in your career (which is quite likely for many people), having a variety of experiences is helpful.
From gratitude on not having done these things:
Don't go into debt. Try to find an educational option that lets you avoid student loan debt unless you have a damn good reason not to. Treat credit cards as debit cards and pay off the balance in full each month.
Don't pick up a smoking habit. ETA to be relevant for today: same goes for vaping!
From a mixture of gratitude and regret:
Remember that the most valuable currency is time...take advantage of it while you have more of it. Don't put living in the moment aside, just remember the value and think about what you might have wished you started earlier, when you're older.