Thought Catalog

One of my guilty pleasures is reading various articles found online. They range from humorous and ridiculous to more serious and insightful, but I can honestly spend hours reading articles detailing "The Absolute Worst Parts of Your Childhood," and somehow end up reading an article titled "88 Important Truths I've Learned About Life." I've made a habit of collecting links to different articles, with the intention of going back to revisit them, and hopefully use some of them as inspiration for this blog. I'm hoping to touch on more of them throughout the next couple of weeks, but for right now, I'll focus on the "88 Important Truths I've Learned About Life," that I found on Thought Catalog.

I obviously won't list all 88 of them for you - I highly recommend that you read the entire article for yourself - but I will pick out a few of my favorites.

15. Nobody has it all figured out.

If there's one thing I've learned in college, it's that while we may appear to have it all figured out, we really don't. I may think I know what I want to do with my life, but if I'm being honest, that changes every day. Some days I want to stay in Austin; many others I want to move back to Houston. On some of the more whimsical days, I want to spend a year or two teaching abroad. It once scared me to think that I don't really know what I want, until I figured out that no one does, and the good news is that we're not really supposed to.

We may not have it all figured out, but we'll look good doing it!

24. Those who complain the most, accomplish the least.

I like to think of myself as someone who sees the glass half-full. And while I do try to look on the bright side of things, there will always be those overwhelming days, where nothing seems to go your way. And while I can complain about things with the rest of them, I've found that I can spend time complaining about how bad things are (when they are never really that bad), or I can use that time to do something about it.

34. Everyone you meet is better than you at something.

I was humbled a lot upon coming to college. I came out of a great high school with a long list of achievements and awards, filled to the brim with pride and probably a little too much confidence. I thought very highly of myself, until I realized that I was surrounded by people with far greater accomplishments than what I had. That very much motivates me to work even harder, but it is also freeing to know that I don't have to be the best at everything.  

These are some extraordinary and very talented people

53. Everyone thinks they're an above average driver.

This one made me laugh because I frequently find myself commenting on how awful both Austin and Houston drivers are, as though I am the world's greatest driver following the rules of the road 100% of the time.

65. It's easy to make someone's day just by being uncommonly pleasant to them.

This is one that I hope everyone takes to heart. You never know the kind of day that someone is having, and one simple gesture can go a very long way.

68. It is worth re-trying foods that you didn't like at first.

I grew up carrying the title of "world's pickiest eater." I stuck to the three food items that I knew I liked, and I ordered the exact same thing at every single restaurant - chicken tenders. There were a lot of foods that I just "didn't like" (and that I hadn't even really tried), but my taste buds were enlightened upon coming to college. Who would have thought that I actually liked brussel sprouts?

34th Street Cafe

74. A good nine out of ten bad things I've worried about never happened. A good nine out of ten bad things that did happen never occurred to me to worry about.

This one is so incredibly true. How much time do I spend worrying about and dreading the little things that inevitably turn out fine? A little bit of nerves is a good thing, but what about all those times that I had to call AAA for help with my car? I never spent one minute worrying about locking my keys in my car, but that didn't stop it from happening!

87. The ability to be happy is nothing other than the ability to come to terms with how things change.

As an almost 22-year-old who is less than five months away from graduating college, this is a big one for me. I have known nothing but being a student for the last 18 years of my life, and I have known nothing but depending on my parents for just about everything, and I am about to become the one teaching students, and I am going to have to learn how to support myself (which I guess means I am going to have to tone down my trips to Anthropologie). While it is definitely going to be a period of big change, the best way I know how to deal with it is to meet it with a smile.

Tis the season of engagements!

Like I said, I encourage you to read the entire list - it's a good one. And thanks for sticking with me on this one, I know it's not quite as light as my usual food and workout posts!