Reddit Users Share Things That Forever Changed Their Way of Thinking, and We Wish We’d Read Them Sooner

Curiosities
year ago

Bruce Lee once said, “Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.” This also applies to the words you hear from the people in your daily lives disguised as advice. These words don’t often carry enough weight to give you any assurance and sometimes they’re heavy enough to create an impact on your life.

1.

I met a person who was in a wheelchair. He told a story about how a person once asked if it was difficult to be confined to a wheelchair. He responded, “I’m not confined to my wheelchair — I am liberated by it. My wheelchair is the reason why I am able to move about freely and go anywhere I want to. Otherwise, I would be bed-bound, and it would have been really hard for me to even leave the room or this house.”

2.

When your anger passes, the relationship will still be there. Basically, when you’re no longer angry, the damage done to your relationship while you acted on your anger remains, and it can permanently hurt the relationship.

3.

Don’t be mean to your dog. He’s a few years of your life, but you are all of his.

4.

When I was young and having what I thought was a serious relationship talk with my first real girlfriend, I told her that I just wanted to find the right person. Without missing a beat, she said, “Everybody is looking for the right person, and nobody is trying to be the right person.” That stopped me in my tracks.

5.

I grew up in a somewhat poor household, that’s why I was always insecure about going to nice and expensive places. I used to feel out of place most of the time or not as good as the other people there. Once I was out on a date at a nice restaurant with this guy who said something along the lines of, “You’re paying for your meal just like everyone else here. You deserve to be here just as much as they do.”

I still feel insecure about things sometimes, and I think it’s fine, but then I always think back to that moment and instantly feel better about myself.

6.

My mom was in the hospital and she was seriously ill. My best friend came up to me and said, “You have your whole life to freak out about this — don’t do it in front of her.”

I really understood something that day — feelings are not always important. Sometimes you just need to delay them for your own good. That experience helped me postpone my “freak-out” moments several times later in life.

7.

People won’t remember the words you say, but they will remember how you made them feel.

8.

It was during the time of college admission — and after getting rejected by a bunch of popular colleges in my first week, my hopes went a little down. My dad (who is a writer) said, “I was rejected by Stanford 3 times and now my books are in their library. You’ve got to be better than them.”

9.

“Think of a time you were embarrassed, easy, right? Now think of a time someone else was embarrassed. It’s a lot harder to do, isn’t it?” I don’t really worry about being embarrassed anymore if no one will remember it except me!

10.

In my late 30s (38 to be exact) I was contemplating pursuing a 2-year associates degree in Radiography. I was discussing this with one of my best friends and later, he talked me through it. I said, “Don’t you think it’s too late to start that? I mean, I’ll be 40 by the time I get my degree.” My friend said, “If you don’t do it, you’ll still be 40, but without the degree.”

I’m 60 years old right now, and to be honest, that degree made a lot of difference. Now I make more money and live a better life.

11.

Depression presents itself in the guise of rational thought.” Said by my uncle.

12.

Next year, you’ll wish you had started today.

13.

Education is expensive, but no education is more expensive.” Definitely took school more seriously after someone told me that.

14.

“Everyone you meet knows something you don’t.” My grandfather told me this, and it’s been a hell of a reminder for me that, there are teachers everywhere.

15.

You know you’re an adult when you can be right without proving the other person wrong.

16.

The money you save on buying bad food will later be spent on hospital bills.

17.

When you have a generous impulse, follow it. If it randomly occurs to you to give money to a homeless guy, to help a friend move, or to pay the toll for the person behind you...just do it.

I’ve noticed that I have thoughts like this all the time, but then I talk myself out of it by my next thought. If I kept this advice in mind, then I’d be more likely to go through with it. And performing small acts of kindness makes everybody happy.

18.

My dad always told me, “If you’re the smartest in the room, you are in the wrong room.”

19.

Your success in life is largely dependent on how many uncomfortable conversations you’re willing to have.”

My former boss told me this when I was denied re-enrollment to my university to finish my degree. He encouraged me to take a day off from work, drive down to the university, and negotiate with them in person about the ordeal. Being a very non-confrontational person, I would never have done this on my own. Sure enough, I spoke to the offices about it, and I was able to enroll.

He later used this line again when he had to lay me off because of financial constraints. But thanks to the same advice, I was planning on leaving work anyways to attend school full-time.

20.

Don’t prepare the road for your kids, prepare your kids for the road.

Got this gem after joking about the cat “going to live on a farm.” And they are 100% correct. Kids need to see how the world really works, especially since you are there to comfort them and help them through it. If you shield them until they are out on their own, they are going to have an extremely hard time.

21.

You can pay now, or you can pay later, but it’s almost always cheaper to pay now.” It seems like a lot of people think this is only referencing money, it’s not.

22.

One of my teachers shared this quote with me, “Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.” So now every time I want to procrastinate things like studying so that I can watch Netflix, I just tell myself that what I want now is Netflix but what I want most is a degree.

23.

Years of love have been forgotten in the hatred of a minute.” Really helps whenever I get into an argument with my friends or family.

24.

Be confident and act like you belong. This got me into some places for free.

Okay, I have to add the time, this worked out amazingly well for me. I was at a music festival in the summer. They had slip and slides and what not, so I was wearing a bikini.

They had this VIP area for $150 a person where you would get unlimited drinks and food. I walked in there without a wrist-band. When I was stopped I pointed to some promo models from a gym wearing a similar color bikini as me. I said I was with them.

Got a wrist-band and a job. The person who owned the gym saw it and offered me to be part of his promo crew. That lead to me being a ring card girl for some amazing boxing matches.

25.

You deserve what you accept.

One of my university professors once told me this, and it has stuck with me. I will never accept failure, and it taught me to never blame my shortcomings on circumstance or anyone else.

What is something someone said that changed your life forever? Feel free to drop it in the comments. And share this with the people you feel need to read these words.

Please note: This article was updated in January 2023 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.

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