Thoughts on general life advice that was given to me at an earlier time and place

But you know, actually, I agree with Gustavo that everyone should work at some farm for at least a month every year so that later when they come back to the city they don’t take for granted the food they eat every day.

And my grandfather also was right about something. He always told me I should learn a trade, like carpentry, plumbery or something so that I can always find work in any country, he said I should eat lots of fruits and should learn how to play an instrument. Unfortunately, I only listened to the part about the fruits.

My uncle said I should master the English language at a young age, it’s the basics of the basics. And he was right of course, but when he said I was just teenager so didn’t care much.

Because I could speak English, I had access to all the information available on any subject, plus communication with people from everywhere, plus better job and life opportunities.

Mother said I should finish highschool and that was the only thing she asked me, she said it would help me find a job in the future. That one was wrong, but I can understand her because she did it with the best intentions. So far, I’ve had more than 60 jobs and not even once they asked me for any high school papers, but anyway I lost them many years ago.

Actually, mother said many many things, as I grew up with her, she was by far the most influential behavioral example I could observe while growing up, all the patterns both positive and negative, that worked and didn’t work for her, so I would make sure not to make the same mistakes again.

Or… make them consciously, and knowing why I made them.

Once I know why I make a mistake then I am presented with 4 options:

1- Accept it and face the consequences (I have a hang over because I drank a lot last night, because life is too scary otherwise.)

2- Disguise the fact that I made a mistake by justifying it or rationalizing it so it wont look like a mistake at all (I have a hang over because social conventions dictate that’s the optimal way to socialize with your peers, either at school or at work, it’s perfectly normal to drink till you drop and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that.)

3- Ignoring it (I didn’t drink last night).

4- Accepting it and learning from it (I drank too much last night as a way of coping either with some repressed emotions or with the fact I’m not so happy with my life or the circumstances around me. From now on I’ll deal with my problems instead of looking for ways to temporarily escape them while numbing my senses and harming my body at the same time.)

 

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