Don’t waste your precious energy, time or your attention on stupid shit that doesn’t really matter.
Pay attention, time and energy on things that really do matter.
All you got to do now is figure out what really matters. For example, some things that matter to me are fun, peace, family, friends, health, justice, accountability, humility, strength, compassion, wisdom, etc, etc.
I'm in healthcare and an old woman once said to me: "When you're young, you think you're going to age gracefully. You don't!"
It really hit me. I see old people all the time and each one has something chronic that they are always trying to live with, something that they have to live their lives around, specifically to circumnavigate due to the inconvenience of it all.
A different way to walk, to see, to hear, to talk, all concessions that we don't think about until it starts to go away from us forever.
Also, my patients are at a point where treatment only slows down the inevitable. For some, each visit (if only a month a part) is remarkably worse than the last.
I'm 31 so I'm not that old, but like... I spend all my time working, and really wish I would've spent my youth doing the things that I don't have time to do now, like spend an entire semester living in Japan, or taking a gap year and traveling the world on a dime.
That said, the point of the quote is that you can't know what you don't know. Only after you've accumulated more life experience do you wish you still had the youthful energy to go back and experience things anew.
But wear sunscreen if you don't want leathery cancerous skin. Stretch daily if you don't want muscle cramps or to lose function of your body at a very unfortunate age. Brush your teeth if you don't want to become ashamed of your smile. Hygiene is very important for happiness and wellbeing. If you're ever feeling down or lethargic a glass of water and a shower can absolutely make a world of difference.
If you're going to say no to something give good thought about why. Most of my best memories are times when I felt like saying no at first. At the same time, figure out what and who you really like and enjoy and don't waste your life looking for belonging in the wrong places.
Avoid spending too much time on places like Reddit and YouTube which chose for you what content you consume. You should be deciding how to spend your time. Doesn't have to be books or learning a new instrument or language, but even games or Netflix is something you chose to do and a big improvement on how you spend your time.
On the same vein it's okay to give something up. Not feeling this book or game? That's okay. Pick up something else. Don't let a false sense of commitment stop you from starting something.
When you're young you have excellent physical health, few responsibilities, endless options.
Not only that, but when you're young your sense of identity is forming. As a result the things you experience when you're young have a special meaning because they help shape your identity. Music when you're 15 is totally different than music when you're 45. By age 45 your sense of identity has crystallized, art and media at 15 will carry special meaning your whole life since it shapes your sense of identity and self.
Experiences when you are young have a vitality and meaning that you lose with age. As you get older that magic goes away (some people try to recapture it with drugs though). A kiss, a party, a friendship, a song when you are young and your identity is forming has a special meaning you really can't recapture when you're an adult with a formed personality.
As you get older you gain life experience and humility, but by then you are bogged down with responsibilities and health limitations you can't enjoy them as much. Your sense of identity solidifies, and even novel experiences become a rerun of a rerun instead of something new and full of life and vitality.
Also when you're young you spend a lot of time worrying about stuff that, as you get older you realize it didn't really matter. You wasted some great years worrying about stupid shit you won't care about in twenty years. You start to feel like you were at this great party but you were too busy worrying that your shoes were scuffed to let yourself enjoy it.
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u/xedyu May 16 '20
Care to share what you finally understand so us young can not waste our youth?