Whatarethetop10thingsthatweshouldbeinformedaboutinlife?

1. Realizethatnobodycares,andiftheydo,youshouldn'tcarethattheycare.Gotanewcar?Nobodycares.You'llgetsomegawkersforacoupleofweekstheydon'tcare.They'recurious.Threeweeksinit'llbejustanothershinyblobamongallthethousandsofotherscrawlingdownthefreewayandsittingingaragesanddrivewaysupanddownyourstreet.Peoplewillcareaboutyourcarjustasmuchasyoucareaboutallofthose.Gotanewgewgaw?Newwardrobe?Wenttoaswankyrestaurant?Exoticvacation?Nobodycares.Don'tbaseyourhappinessonpeoplecaring,becausetheywon't.Andiftheydo,theyeitherwantyourstufforhateyouforit.

2. Somerulebreakerswillbreakrulenumberone.Occasionally,peopleinyourlifewilldefytheoddsandactuallycareaboutyou.Stillnotyourstuff,sorry.Butiftheyvalueyou,they'llvaluethatyouvalueit,andthey'lllisten.Whenyoutalkaboutallofthosethingsthatnobodyelsecaresabout,theywilllookintoyoureyesandconsumeyourwords,andinthatmomentyouwillknowthateverypartofthemistherewithyou.

3. Spendyourlifewithrulebreakers.Marrythem.Befriendthem.Workwiththem.Spendweekendswiththem.Nomatterhowmuchpoweryoubecomepossessedof,you'llneverbeabletomakesomeonecaresogatherclosethecaring.

4. Moneyischeap.Imean,there'salotofittrillionsupontrillionsofdollarsfloatingaroundtheworld,largelymadeupofcashwhosevalueismadeupandascribedtoit,anyway.Don'tengineeryourlifearoundgettingaslightlylesstinyportionofthispile,andmakeyourspiritofgenerosityreflectthisprinciple.Iknewamanwhobecamedrivenbythedesiretoamasssixfiguresinsavings,soheworkedandscrimpedandsacrificedtogetthere.Andhedid...rightbeforehediedofcancer.I'msurehiswife'snewhusbandappreciatedhisdiligence.

5. Moneyisexpensive.Imean,it'sdifficulttogetyourhandsonsometimesandyouneverknowwhensomeone'sgoingtopullthefloorboardsoutfromunderyousodon'tbestupidwithit.Avoiddebtondepreciatingassets,andneverincurdebtinordertoassuageyourvanity(seerulenumberone).Debthasbecomenormative,butdon'tblithelyacceptitasariteofpassageintoadulthooddebtrepresentsimbalanceand,insomesense,oftenaresignationofcontrol.Studentloandebtisn'talwaysavoidable,butitisn'tagivenmywifeandIcompletedacombinedtenyearsofcollegewithzerodebtbetweenus.Ifyoucan'tavoidit,though,makesurethatyourdegreeisaninvestmentratherthanaliabilityImournabitforallofthepeoplegoingtensofthousandsofdollarsindebtinpursuitofvagueliberalartsdegreeswithnoideaofwhattheywantoutoflife.Ifyou'rejustdroppingtuitiondollarsforlackofabetterideaatthemoment,justwithdrawandgowanderaroundEuropeforafewweeksIguaranteeyou'llspendlessandlearnmoreintheprocess.

JustinFreeman,FormerPoliceOfficerandPastor744.1kViewsUpvotedbyShobhitBakliwal,IcodeeverydayDavidCauneLeeBallentine17othersyoufollowAnswerfeaturedinSlate.

6. Learntheancientartofrhetoric.Theelementsofrhetoric,inalloftheirforms,arewhatmaketheworldgoaroundbecausetheyarewhatpromptthedecisionspeoplemake.Ifyoudevelopanunderstandingofhowtheywork,whileeveryoneelseisfrightenedbyflamesandboomingvoices,youwillbeabletoseebehindveilsofcommunicationandseewhatleverslittlemenarepulling.Notonlywillyoudevelopimmunityfromallmannerofcommercials,marketing,huckstersandsalesmen,tothebeautifulspeechesofliarsandthieves,you'llalsofindyourselfabletocraftyourspeechinwaysthatinfluencepeople.Whenyouknowhowtospeakinordertochangesomeone'smind,toinstillconfidenceinsomeone,toquietthefearsofachild,thenyouwillknowthispowerfirsthand.However,bearinmindasyouuseitthatyouropponentinanydebateisnottheotherperson,butignorance.

7. Youareresponsibletoeveryone,butyou'reresponsibleforyourself.Ibelievewe'reresponsibletoeveryoneforsomething,evenifit'ssomethingasbasicasanaffirmationoftheirhumanity.However,itshouldmostoftengofarbeyondthatandmanifestitselfinservicetoothers,tobeingavoiceforthevoiceless.Ifyou'rereadingthis,therearethosearoundyouwhotoilunderburdenslargerthanyours,whostandinneedoftouchandrespectandchances.Conversely,though,you'reresponsibleforyourself.Nobodyelseisgoingtofindsuccessforyou,andnobodyelseisgoingtoinstillhappinessintoyoufromtheoutside.That'sonyou.

8. Learntoseerealityintermsofsystems.Whenyouunderstandtheworldaroundyouasamassivewebofinterconnected,largelyinterdependentsystems,thingsgetmuchlessmystifyingandthelessweeitherascribetomagicorallowtoexistbehindafog,thelesssusceptiblewe'llbetoallmannerofbeingtakenadvantageof.However:

9. Accountforthethreatofblackswanevents.Sometimeschaosconsumesthemostmeticulousofplans,andifyoulivelifewithnomarginsinafinancial,emotional,oranyothersense,youwillbesubjecttoitswhims.Takerisks,butbackstopthemwithsomethingIstronglysuspectthesepeoplewhosayhavingaPlanBisasignofweakcommitmentaren'tlivinghandtomouth.Dowhatyouneedtoinordertokeepyourfooting.

10. Youbothneedanddon'tneedotherpeople.Youneedothersinasensethatyouneedtobepartofacommunitythere'sareasonwereflexivelypityhermits.Regardlessofyourtheoryofanthropogenesis,it'shardtodenythatwearebuiltforcommunity,andthat'we'isalwaysmorethan'me.'However,youdon'tneedanotherpersoninorderforyourlifetohavemeaningthisideathatDisneyhasshovedthroughoureyeballs,thatthere'ssomeoneoutthereforallofusifwe'lljustbelievehardenoughandneverstopsearching,ishokum...becauseofarithmetic,ifnothingelse.Establishyourownlifethen,ifthere'saparticularpersonthatyoucan'thelpbutintegrate,believeme,you'llknow.

11. Alwaysgivemorethanisrequiredofyou.