One Quote To Rule Them All

Back in elementary there was a poster on the wall. It had a picture of a polar bear watching another polar bear slip on ice and it was captioned "Learn from the mistakes of others, you can't make them all yourself." I didn't know then that the quote would have such an impact on my life.

I think of these words whenever someone tries to give me any form of advice. It's easy for me to think I know what's best for myself, but the truth is there's no way I can know everything. This quote has helped me change my attitude about so many things in life. Not only have I learned a lot from others' experiences, I've also learned to be more empathetic to those around me. Sometimes I want to ditch out on another "when I was your age..." lecture, but honestly, if there are people that HAVE been through what I've been through, why wouldn't I take the time to listen to their advice? At worst, even if what they say is not applicable to my situation, I got to know a little more about another person's life, which is always cool. From this, I've learned so many invaluable lessons, such as "What other people think of you is none of your business; stop being so nosy," from my college P.E. teacher. Or "So what if she doesn't like you? Your world is not going to stop because of her. And neither are your chores," from my mother.

Also, I've learned that it's not just the words that people share, but the stories behind their words. It's crazy to me that there's 7 different billion individual lives but we can all share similar feelings, like heartache or nervousness or pride. I make my own mistakes every day and try to learn from those, but I'm still really ignorant about so much more than what I actually know. If I want to be smart, I have to keep learning. And if experience is the best teacher, then it's best I listen when someone decides to share some of their own.

Until next week,

-E