How old are you, what have you learned in that time ?

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

I just turned 29, and I've had a LOT of time the past day or so to sit back and reflect if you will, on what i've learned the last 29 years. I have been saying recently that the hardest learned lessons are often times the most valuable lessons we learn, and I was thinking about that Tim McGraw song "In my next 30 years" and it got me thinking what have i REALLY learned, and what do i want out of the NEXT 30 years ?

It'll take me a little bit to write this out i think, but how old are you, what lessons have you learned, and what do you want to accomplish in the rest of your years ?

[Kulaf]

I'm 44. I always joke with my friends as to whether we are just smart or whether 90% of people are just fucking dumb........and we came to the conclusion that yes......90% of people are just fucking dumb.

[Fobbon Lazyfoot]

I'm 21, and I have learned how to kick everyones ass at Smash Brothers:64 and throw a ping pong ball into a solo cup from eight feet away with astonishing accuracy.

[Garrdor]

I just turned 24.

The one thing that has become most apparent in this short amount of time - is that people and this planet cannot co-exist in any unregulated form.

The others go as followed:

1. The people who breed the most are usually the ones that have the least to offer genetically
2. Earth is not the center of the universe
3. God doesn't exist, or to the tangible degree of human interaction
4. History isn't always accurate, as humans aren't always honest
5. Chaos is the very essence of life, nature; the studied universe in general
6. Fear is a driving force amongst every-day human beings - and the systems that promote it in trade for submission are HIGHLY successful
7. There is no such thing as time, just widly-perceived occurances that are constant
8. Hope and Faith are useless in reality - as are optimism and pessimism. Actions count.
9. Socialist/Marxist ideas of governing systems are in the right direction. The human race would save itself (and a natural world eco-system) if it could understand/adhere 100%
10. Being observant, learning on your own, as opposed to accepting information (either forced or fed to you) at the leisure of easy and commonly accepted sources - is the only true path to illumination

oh yeah, and -

11. French chicks got hairy armpits

[Alluveal]

I am 38.

1. Pick your battles.
2. Forgiveness is difficult at times, but almost always the right thing to do. Everyone fucks up.
3. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff (see #1.)
4. Unconditional love exists. Until I had a child I did not understand this. Now I do. My child has taught me more about myself and humanity than I can ever teach her in return.
5. There are some fucked up, seriously mental, evil people in this world whose only ambitions are to bring pain to others.
6. Men are the biggest pussies on the face of the planet (and probably in the entire universe) when it comes to being sick or withstanding pain. I would rather stick a hot poker up my urethra than deal with a man who has the sniffles. It's a fucking joke.
7. Men also put up with a lot of shit when it comes to women, so maybe 6 and 7 even each other out.
8. To conquer others is to know power. To conquer yourself is to know the way.
9. Sometimes fart jokes are really fucking funny.
10. Sometimes, you just have to let people "fall" and hit bottom. It's hard as hell, but you can't save everyone and sometimes by offering help, you're enabling them to continue acting like assholes.

11. Everquest was such a huge waste of time in a sense. But, I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I made some amazing friends, and I get to come here and bug the hell out of you fuckers.

[Select]

6. Fear is a driving force amongst every-day human beings - and the systems that promote it in trade for submission are HIGHLY successful

That's why the best players were Iksar and worshiped the great Thule.

[Ddrak]

36.

The world is a freaking awesome place. If you lose sight of that simple fact then you're really missing out!

Dd

[Partha]

38.

The only thing I know for sure is that there's a hell of a lot I don't know. Which, coincidentally, is a hell of a lot more than most people ever learn.

[Riggen]

37. I have plenty of knowledge, but most of the really important things I've learned are about myself.

There's a kind of joy to be found in the discovery of the new (new to yourself, not necessarily new to everyone else). Sharing that joy is one of the most gratifying and strongly motivating things I've found in life.

I cannot choose my beliefs. I must be sincerely convinced. If I could arbitrarily decide to believe something, I can't envision how I could honestly call it a belief.

I can, however, choose as a matter of degree how I feel most of the time, at least with regard to negative emotion. I can choose, for instance, to be annoyed rather than angry, or angry rather than enraged. I strongly suspect this is a choice available to almost everyone, and that the world would be a far better place if more people were to realize that they have this choice, and exercise the will to make it.

I've recently learned that despite how sappy or trite they might sound, most love songs come from an honest place.

Integrity cannot be bought, but it has to be paid for on a regular basis.

You can only count on yourself...until you learn to be able to count on others.

To add to Lulu's comment, forgiveness can accomplish more good for the forgiver than the forgiven.

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

Like i said i'm 29

I have learned several very hard, very valuable life lessons along the way

1. Life isn't easy and it most often doesn't follow the best laid plans, the same goes for parenthood and children. No matter what you hope, things generally seem to change right as they were supposed to, but normally not in the ways you anticipated.

2. Those who hurt us the most are those we love the most, people who don't matter we vent some anger towards, then generally tend to forget or ignore them, but those who have made the biggest impact on your lives are the ones we stay angry at the longest, for our love is blinded by the hurt

3. You can push everyone away, but some people will come back again and again, sometimes it's because they're malicious people, and sometimes it's because they really do care about you. Be sure to differentiate between the 2.

4.Real love does exist, it's on a different level then the love we feel for our children, it exists between 2 people, and you have to be smart enough to recognize it. It's not perfect, it's often times very trying, but it's worth it to stick things out

5. Heartbreak is very real and is occurs on several different levels. Maybe it's not getting the job you wanted, or watching the love of your life walk away, maybe it's seeing your child behave in a way you know they will regret at a later point in life, but heartbreak is very real

6. Regrets are a waste of time, you can regret and what if all you want, but in the end the past is the past, you cant change the past, hell you can't even change the future, all you have is today, and today you can be the best you can be, even if it's only for you. Regrets are funny that way though, you can look back and think "i should have, could have or would have" but would those choices have been better ? For some of us, and i think everyone can agree, yes we SHOULD have done things better, made that other choice because of things we knew at the time, but in the end, here you are, go from there...

7. Patience is a virtue, it comes with time, age and maturity. It can't be bought or bargained for, but it's one of the greatest tools you have. If you don't have patience, you should learn it. This will come in handy in every way possible in life, from dealing with children, and friends and co workers and the moron at Taco Bell who can't handle the request for "No tomatoes"

8. Yes, pick your battles. Try to very quickly decide what will matter tomorrow, what will matter in a year, what will matter in 10 and what won't even matter in 5 minutes. My children have also taught me that life is too short to sweat the small stuff. You should have good manners, but putting your elbows in the table is something far less offensive then shoveling food into your mouth while yapping at the same time.

9. Anything you have to beg for isn't worth the time or effort, just move on and find something better

10. Everyone fails, but it's how you handle your failures that makes all the difference. Picking yourself up and brushing off, sighing and trying again is a hell of a lot harder then giving up in a crumpled pile of tears, but it's probably the best way to handle the situation.

11. Country songs are written because someone had something to say, that meant something to them


I was going to employ a different tactic, but i like this one better

[Harlowe]

34. I've learned to listen more. Be in the moment. Take responsibility for your actions. Appreciate those around you. Hard work pays off, excuses never do. Never stop educating yourself. Take care of your body, you only get one.

And that the internet is a bastion of narcissism.

And that country music sucks.

[Mokoshan]

I'm 27.

I've learned that boredom is a powerful motivator.

[Select]

I've learned that boredom is a powerful motivator.

Revenge for me.

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

I've learned that boredom is a powerful motivator.

Revenge for me.

Anger is revenge for me. I lost 30 lbs because i was angry.

[Mokoshan]

So boredom leads to revenge, revenge leads to anger, and anger leads to the dark side?

[Select]

Nah, people just have different triggers~

[Alluveal]

I've learned that people think it's cool to be different at any cost, even if it means they look like a complete dickhole/assface in the process.

Go EMO!

[jookkor]

32, the universe is intrinsically hilarious, and I am pretty sure that I wont hear the shot that kills me.

[Klast Brell]

39 At the last family get together I told my 13 year old niece to enjoy her teenage years as much as she could. As she gets older she will have more and responsibilities and and less and less free time to goof around. Work is like being in school doing worksheets, homework and quizzes all day every day. Only it's 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, for the rest of your life. Can you imagine doing homework all day every day for the rest of your life. And there isn't even variety to it. You know when your teacher give you busy work. You already know how to solve those math problems, but here is a sheet of 30 more. It's like like that all day every day for the rest of your life.

And look what it does to people. Look at all the grown ups sitting around chatting about boring stuff. There's music playing but they don't want to dance. There's video games and board games but they don't want to play. They just sit there talking about back pain, complaining about the price of gas, and comparing how much their babies poop.

So enjoy your youth and freedom as much as you can for as long as you can. Sooner than you think you will be crushed under a pile of responsibilities so big you will hardly have the free time to worry about how many responsibilities you have.

[Lurker]

Wow, Klast. Your niece must so look forward to seeing you at reunions.