One afternoon I was watching a TED Talk featuring Deepak Ramola — a 24-year-old bringing wisdom and unity through his Project FUEL. Ramola's beliefs are that in life, everyone has learned something of value. Regardless of a person's financial or educational background or standings, everyone has something insightful to offer to the rest of the world. Ramola travels around and asks strangers "what has life taught you?" He then compiles all the answers as he believes that they could help someone else in the world.

Out of curiosity, I decided to ask my friends on Snapchat and Instagram to share any life lesson they had learned. Some of them were funny and life-hearted like "Food is bae" or "Don't do drugs." Some were sad like "not everyone's supposed to be in your life forever" or "don't trust nobody." But the most popular responses were immensely positive and resonating. Here are some of the responses I got:

1. "I have learned that everything happens for a reason and sometimes you just have to be positive and let things happen. All you can do is put in your best effort."

2. "Perception is everything. Treat everyone with respect and courtesy. Never let anyone else dictate how you see yourself, because you only answer to yourself at the end of your life."

3. "What goes around comes back around - be the type of energy you want to attract."

4. "Things always happen for a reason."

5. "With the right people around you and a positive mind set, you can get over any obstacle that life throws at you. Keep on keepin' on."

6. "I've learned that not everything that happens in your life needs to be shared. There's always one person that is going to have a bad attitude and you don't need that negativity in your life."

7. "Always be thoughtful about decisions, but once they're took never look back and do everything in your power to prove that it was the right choice."

8. "You can't take life too seriously. You gotta have a little bit of humor otherwise you'll just get overwhelmed."

9. "Life moves on."

10. "Everything will pass eventually so live in the now and don't dwell too much in the past or future."

11. "Your thoughts are powerful, make them powerful."

12. "Nothing in this life is handed to you, you gotta work for what you want and be patient."

13. "Do whatever makes you happy."

14. "You get what you give. If you put out positive energy you will receive positive energy."

15. "Stop putting in extra effort in the hopes that they will match it."

16. "If you love life, life will love you back."

17. "Do something you ain't ever done today."

18. "I've learned that the purpose of life is to enjoy it."

19. "Even if everything in life feels as though it is going downward, eventually you'll realize everything happens for a reason and that reason will make you a stronger person."

20. "Love your parents, they won't be here forever."

Through all these responses I have learned that for the most part people are really hopeful for better outcomes in life. Not only this, they believe in the perseverance of humanity. Even the bad things will pass, and anything can be overcome. I noticed a pattern in that most of the life lessons came out in the form of advice and so I asked everyone if this was advice that they followed.

Of course, most people answered that they recently have started, or that they try to be more mindful of what they have learned.

My advice to everyone would be to take their own advice and implement whatever they have learned into their lives while focusing on the positive.