Love
NEVER marry your first boyfriend. Your first love will not be your last love. You need to date a lot of frogs to be able to identify the prince when he arrives. However, you may never meet a prince in your life so learn to change a light bulb and kill cockroaches on your own.
Career and Money
Academic ambition is not overrated. It escalates you to a different level no matter what job you do. Studying when you are thirty with two kids is suicidal.
Travel if you can, even locally. When you are married it is near impossible to find the time or money and the experience will be different.
The allure of credit cards is designed to make you broke. Don’t fall into the debt trap. Buy those killer heels when you have the cash otherwise admire them from a distance. Start putting away money for a rainy day with the first salary you earn. There will be times when money will be scarce and you need a safety net to fall back on.
Health
This is as thin as you are going to get! Eat whatever the hell you want. Similarly, this is as good as your skin will get. Start taking care of it now.
Life
There are no guarantees in life except death and taxes. That is not a cliché.
People that you love will die and you will be left heart broken.
The higher you earn the more tax you pay. That is a guarantee.
Embrace the ones you love while they are alive. Accommodate for the higher tax when you earn more. You cannot escape either.
People will let you down. Trust will be broken. Friendships will end. Depend on yourself only and you will prevent a lot of heartache and disappointment. Have no expectations at all.
At the end of your life, it is not the mistakes you have made that will matter. What will matter are the dreams that were never fulfilled and the years that have been wasted – existing rather than living.
This is one of your best writing! So true.
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If only we all had this advice at 16………. I love the last one……..
well done
I know Van! Someone should write the book! Not that we would listen at that age. Thanks.
I guess we thought we knew it all ! well see – we had to learn from our mistakes – hopefully our daughters dont think they know it all!
I hope not Omei. We need to have serious conversations with them when they’re older.
We have to set examples now so as they grow they will keep it in mind and not forget. We have to make sure friend they take our advice. We have to pray they do. Its only when you become a mother you realise how serious life is. Before that we take it as a joke!