A dose of wisdom arrives with every fine line! Yes, we learn more about life as we get older.
As I sit today and reflect, I realize that with passing years, I have learned quite a few things. Had I known them some 20 years ago, I would have made different choices, both in my personal and professional life. Here are 5 things about life I wish I had known 20 years ago…
1. Develop Healthy Eating Habits
20 years ago, I believed that I had a lifetime free pass to eat whatever junk I wanted and it wouldn’t affect my body in any visible adverse way. But now that I’ll be 50 in a couple of years, Boy! Does this fat love my body!?! The fat sticks to me for dear life!! And my best and sincere efforts to banish it, fail miserably. I wish, I had known 20 years ago that a healthy diet is important when you’re young. And that’s because, what you eat today has a big impact on your health tomorrow
2. Worry Less
Worry has been my middle name. I have spent sleepless nights worrying about big things like jobs during recession, rising inflation, health scare due to air pollution and small things like the tone of the email from the boss or about getting stuck in the traffic. I have imagined dire scenarios about all these big and small things. It’s only now that the greys in the head have made me realize that most of the imagined worst case scenarios never happened! I wish, I had known 20 years ago that worrying is pretty useless as it often gives a small thing a big shadow. And life usually turns out just fine.
3. Let Go
For years, I have carried heavy baggage in my head. I have lived in the past for a long time. I have nurtured the hurt and resentments so much that they made me bitter. It was much later that I learnt that you can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one. I wish, I had known that letting go of things that pull you down will not only free you but give you peace and happiness too.
4. Enjoy the Journey
I have spent most of my life, ticking off things in my to-do lists. I crammed my day with obligations and responsibilities, and raced from one task to another like a worker bee and felt smug at the end of the day to see the accomplished tasks. It has taken 20 years to know that it is important to focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
5. Maintain Quality Connections
Life gets busy and it runs at a faster pace after the 20s. I am seeing that so many of my friends from school, college, co-workers from earlier work places have slowly faded from my life. Relationships are a big part of our lives, yet it is one of the easiest things to neglect. I wish, I had stayed connected with a few of my good old friends. And that is because there is no better “fix” than having friends (more specifically girlfriends) to vent to, listen to, shop with, have lunch or a glass of wine with, support, or hold us up through a storm!
What are some of the life lessons you wish you had known 20 years ago?
I received this tag from Parul Kashyap Thakur at Happiness and Food. It’s my pleasure to pass on this tag to Vinay R from I Rhyme Without Reason. There are 29 of us on this Blog Hop and it will be spread over 3 days – 1st, 2nd and 3rd November. Do follow the #WordsMatter Blog Hop and prepare to be surprised!
33 Responses
I wish had taken more risks, being adventurous, never fearing failure or quite a few things. I enjoyed reading your list Shilpa and every point made is so true be it health, Let Go, less worry.
We all make mistakes, and are wiser in retrospect. Lovely post.
Too good Shilpaaaa !!!!!
We do get wiser with age. With age, we learn to value a lot of things and also rectify our mistakes. This is a powerful post that actually teaches us a few important life lessons.
I learnt to show gratitude, focus on health and letting go of negative feelings.
I wish I was more mature so that I could take better decisions in life.
Cool lessons indeed. I find no. 3 especially important for me too.
Btw, you… fat????
😀 😀 😀
Worry less! I would also like to tell the person that I was 20 years ago. And, also to eat healthy foods because that fat would become that faithful frienemy who would never agree to leave me and go.
Nodding my head and agreeing to all of the above. But I particuarly wish I had known about #5. I miss those old girlfiends. I am trying to reconnect with them now though.
I agree with the points you’ve mentioned. Overthinking and worrying unnecessarily are things I’m guilty of. And I really miss my old friends. At times no matter how hard you try, friendships do fade with time and distance. If there is one thing that I’d tell myself twenty years ago, it would be to not grow up. 😀
Indeed! Quality over quantity when it comes to connections.
I’m with you on the health front. I wish I’d established good eating habits and steady exercise habits at a young age. It’s so hard to try to catch up at age 54.
I also wish I’d taken musical instrument lessons. I’ve taught myself anything I currently play, but I know I’d be a lot further ahead if I’d actually taken lessons.
I wish I had realized that worrying would take me nowhere. I wish I had known how it would just torture me and leave me anxious and stressed all the time!
In fact, I am with you on all of the points here that I wished I had known 20 years ago!
This post is a great reminder to all those reading today. Shilpa, I believe that we are meant to learn things this way. By making mistakes and then seeing the other side. So while you wish you had known these 5 things about life 20 years ago, I would say you know it for the life ahead which is so good 🙂
Loved reading you and I always leave your blog thinking about many things. I am glad you joined #WordsMatter and were the first to register ;).
Thank you for these great tips Shilpa. I’m 40 now and when I look back on my life I can see how much precious time I wasted with things I thought were important but now I can’t understand what I was thinking!
I can see so many similarities in what you have shared here and my thoughts now. I am so glad that my priorities have shifted to the things that are really important. I believe having kids really helped with this shift.
I’m still struggling with all those things, except perhaps that last one. If there’s one thing life has taught me it how much of a life-support friends and family can be.
The bit about healthy eating, worrying less and letting go – I don’t know when I’ll achieve that kind of Nirvana.
Excellent words of wisdom, especially numbers two and four! Sadly, so many people don’t make an effort to maintain their friendships. I always try to stay in touch with friends, arrange get-togethers, etc.
The one regret I have is not taking enough care of my health when I was younger. I took my slim body for granted and never bothered with exercise. Now I really wish I had.
These are some really great things. I wish I could learn to say no and not give in to every person. But guess as I have aged today I still find it difficult to say No.
I like the phrase that every fine line comes with learning in life. There are many things we learn with time and are thankful that we learnt. They make our life easier. Maintaining better connections is far better than having friends in the whole world on Facebook.
I love this: “It has taken 20 years to know that it is important to focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”
I think we often loose focus on the journey and only focus on the destination. Thank you for sharing
By now I lost count of how many times I wished for my younger self to not take things so seriously and instead enjoy every moment we get to live! I could so relate to my self from 20 years ago while reading this beautiful post.
I too wish I had maintained quality connections, A few years back when I visited my school, I remember a friend of mine run towards me with so much affection and me standing there not knowing how to react. Persons and relations are one thing I always have had problems with
I was laughing at the first one and thats the best one Shilpa- I have that regret too and now its just too late to get rid of all that stubborn fat! Fist bump on this
We all have such a list of sort-of-regrets but I can honestly say that I wouldnt trade any of those experiences with anything else. These have shaped me to be who I am today!!
So revel in them and let this be your corrective path since the realization 🙂
Excess greed is excess loss.
So much wisdom in this post, Shilpa. I love how each of us has to make our own unique journey and discover what brings us joy.
True! I particularly agree that most of what we worry about today seems like molehills in retrospect.
How lovely! Fat loves me too, Shilpa 😛
I was a big worrier too. Running scenarios in my head that would never happen. I loved the idea of maintaining quality relationships. As I have grown older, I have realized this a lot. These are wonderful and wise words Shilpa.
We learn the lessons when we reflect. if we are learning we are improving, progressing – that’s my idea. But I also realize some wisdom comes with age only. isn’t it?
Such a meaningful and much needed post, Shilpa.
I wish I had know these things earlier too. Life would have been much better today.
Great list Shilpa! Enjoyed reading your post. It was as if these list were made exclusively for me. But, still I am happy I had the luxury to do things wrong and learn it sometimes the hard way. Keeps me wondering what would be the list for these days teenagers who are severely addicted to gadgets, technology and internet ? 🙂