Who wants to listen to their parents? Who wants to believe that what they are telling us is right?
I definitely never did. Growing up, I had never wanted to believe that my parents or their friends knew more about the challenges that I was facing or would inevitably face; I always wanted to believe that I could figure everything out on my own.
However, you reach a certain age when you can finally break through the stubbornness and humble yourself with the little words of advice adults (like, real adults) continually have to offer all of us.
I began to reach that breakthrough a few years ago listening to my parents and their friends talk at my family’s Sunriver home over the Labor Day weekend. It was in that moment that I realized, alright, maybe they know what they are talking about.
It was my parents and those same friends that have delivered to me some of the best life advice that I have been given:
Find a job that you love – do not just do it for the money.
It draws in the incredibly clichéd “money does not buy you happiness,” but it is immensely true. You can either choose to wake up every morning excited to be doing something you love, or you can choose to go to bed every night with a pounding headache working for nothing more than a dollar signed value.
It is not about the speed, it is about the journey.
We always seem to be looking forward to something – the date is marked on the calendar, and you have a countdown going for it, right? We seem to be so focused on the future that we lose worth in the moment that we are presently in. It is incredibly important to slow down, enjoy the Mondays and the Wednesdays, enjoy the early mornings, enjoy the moment that is happening right now.
Be kind.
This seems so simple; however, for whatever unfortunate reason, this can be easily forgotten. It is not hard. It does not take any extra energy from you. Just be kind. In everything you do, with everyone you meet, just be kind.
Live life through the front windshield, not the rear view mirror.
It can be easy to focus on the past, to saunter in regret, to wonder what could have been. But what could have been is not what is. You can change absolutely nothing about the past, but you have almost complete control over the future so keep your head facing forward and your eyes straight ahead.
Do not judge others’ stories by the chapter you walked in on.
There is a chance that you have come in on the lowest chapter in their story, but you do not deserve to see their happy ending if you do not stand with them through the conflict chapters.
So next time your parents and their friends have dinner, sit with them for a while. Listen to their stories, listen to their words. They may be old, but they know.
