The Good Advice That You Just Didn't Take

Why are we so stubborn when it comes to taking advice from others about the future when we are young? Does it merely come down to a lack of maturity, the impetuousness of youth, life inexperience or something else? It's like the advice just goes in one ear and out the other. No contemplation, reflection or critical thinking to be heard of. Is it perhaps a sign of the ego's power to make us feel self-knowledgeable and correct about how we view the world, dismissing the views of those older than us as outdated and rigid?

Of course we cannot take on all the advice given to us, since there are many people willing to dispense their views about the world. However, we do need to have a filter in place that accepts seemingly logical and reasonable advice and rejects harmful and destructive device. The trouble is, when young, we lack the life experience necessary to make informed decisions about the information we are being exposed to.

I thought it would be useful to make a thread about good advice you received when you were young that you didn't take on board and now are suffering for as a result. My contribution: when I was younger, I was warned against getting a credit card. I did not listen and now I pay dearly (literally, figuratively and psychologically) for not taking the advice I was given when younger.

So, is there any good advice you didn't take when YOU were young and now regret?

a reply to: Dark Ghost

Save early, save often.
Only buy quality work boots.
All women are crazy, find your kind of crazy.

Isn't it ironic?

a reply to: JinMI

And who would have thought, it figures?

a reply to: Dark Ghost

If I have the leasure to think about it, I have the time to do it. It turns out that life is full of missed opportunities.

I might have listened to my high school English teacher in 1965, when she suggested I read Heidegger and Dostoevsky but I should leave Sartre and Nietzsche alone.

a reply to: JinMI

Yep, just like a free ride when you've already paid

originally posted by: Dark GhostSo, is there any good advice you didn't take when YOU were young and now regret?

My Dad always told me I should stick in at school so I could get a good career. I'm hitting 40 next year, have 3 kids (one I don't get tosee) and have no security for my family. I wish I had stuck n at School, I've tried making my own way and have had amazing opportunities but I am terrible with money. At least if I had decent grades I could have done something. Still, I have enjoyed the hell out of my life. plus another opportunity has possibly opened up that involves me not having to be in charge of all the money so this time next year it might be a different story, then there's always art school....

ETA - When I first saw the title, the first thing that popped into my head was "Isn't it ironic, don't ya think?"

a reply to: Dark Ghost

This is going to turn into a sing along...fine..I'm in!

a reply to: djz3ro

There are many people in similar situations to your own that DID complete school and do further education. MANY people make convenient, albeit incorrect, career choices during their working life and pay for it later on.

a reply to: Dark Ghost

Our ego, or how we feel about ourselves, is not just based on how we perceive our bodies, and consciousness (our conception/knowledge), but also how we perceive our will (spirit). So, if we do not see anything but the spirit of success within ourselves, we will think we are impervious to failure - we will think we can overcome anything and bad things simply, "won't happen to us."

Advice I wish I could have taken...

Idk, I value my life lessons and I think that if I changed the bad then I probably wouldn't be who I am. If I could change something and still be me, I would like to have started seeking God and the truth sooner (I was very hedonistic when I was a teenager.) But again, without all the bad, I don't know if I would ever have sought so diligently... If the world wasn't so messed up, would you be on this site?

a reply to: Dark Ghost

Hmm...When I was 13 Years Old I had a Bad Habit my Father caught me doing . He told me if I continue to do it , I could go Blind . Well , suffice to say , I did not see the Light after that Advice....

originally posted by: Bleeeeep
Advice I wish I could have taken...

Idk, I value my life lessons and I think that if I changed the bad then I probably wouldn't be who I am. If I could change something and still be me, I would like to have started seeking God and the truth sooner (I was very hedonistic when I was a teenager.) But again, without all the bad, I don't know if I would ever have sought so diligently... If the world wasn't so messed up, would you be on this site?

You make a valuable point.

In regards to your last sentence: probably not, but is being on this website necessarily a good thing? (I believe it is, but how do I know it is?)

a reply to: Dark Ghost

Being on this site? Maybe not.

But why you're on this site? Yes, probably so.

Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Being poor in spirit, as we are, causes us to humble ourselves and seek truth, doesn't it?

To be honest i don't like advice..

i'm not talking about obvious advice like "don't hold your hand over a flame" but more advice about how to live your life.

My dad always told me to get a steady job and work your way up (also gave me a list of good careers)

Now for him this was the right way, but the sad thing is the world had changed from his era to mine, "steady" jobs didnt bring the income, they dont bring the exciting life we all should live.

Now i work a 9-5 and hate it. But every night after work i will sit and work late into the night trying to better my life, by setting business up or trying to be inventive.

So i guess what im trying to say is dont let advice box you in

a reply to: AMNicks

So i guess what i'm trying to say is don't let advice box you in


Hey , that Is Good Advice ! .............

A piece of advice I got that I dismissed....

When I was 16 I crashed a car, was issues with the dirt road,long story short, I got a settlement from the road commission, after lawyer cut I got 26k and change.

The majority of it I gave to my parents and we bought a furnace and windows and kitchen cupboards and appliances,

but my aunts boyfriend told me I should invest in occidental petroleum preferred stock.

Well I invested in bottles of beer, a bad ass camaro a nice rottweiller and spent the remains probably on fast food.

this was 84, but years later I saw on the news occidental petro was one of the biggest oil co. in the world

The best advice I ever got & did not use was from my father. He said "son you don't have to marry that girl" at which time he handed me the keys to his Cadillac & $500 cash.....I would not have my daughter & son if I would have took that offer....not to mention my ex-wife is a soul sucking succubus from the nether regions of the west side of hell. In the end I found out my dad did the same thing with each one of his sons.....none of us took the deal. Sage advice seems to be something we all leave laying in the road at some point in our lives. Happy Thanksgiving to all this day.......ENJOY!!

The advice I missed to follow was: Drink a lot, don't get married. I was stubborn and tried the opposite, now me suffers.

It depends who is giving the advice, I've come across a few I might have punched if I didn't have rational constraint.

Don't Do it! All my pals when I got married for the 3rd time.