Older people of reddit, what truth bomb would you like to tell the youth?

Your excesses, if you don't get a rein on them in your 30s, will kill you in your 50s. I'm talking about smoking, drinking, drugging, overeating and overexposure to the sun. I'm in my 6th decade now and have lost a handful of people who were the party animals when we were all younger. They never gave up their vices and those vices ended up killing them all.
— Offthepoint

other than close friends and family, no one gives a shit about you. that's not a bad thing; it's liberating. you wanna wear a dumb hat? wear it! no one cares. you wanna skip to work? SKIP! no one gives a shit. you wanna eat pancakes for dinner or steak for breakfast? you wanna root for the other team? you wanna date the less attractive girl who makes you laugh? you wanna write fan fiction even though you're no good at it? wanna paint pictures that may or may not be beautiful? you wanna ask for a kid's menu and color on it even though you're in your 30s? NO. ONE. CARES. the amount of needless anxiety out there is heartbreaking.
— cubs_070816

- "I'll let you in on a secret. Nobody matures. They just grow tired." William Holden from the movie Breezy (1973)
— geophi

People don't sit around thinking about you all the time (unless you're newly in love, or something like that), I just mean people in general. So stop feeling so self-conscious and insecure. We all tend to kind of obsess about little things, worrying what people will think, etc. - and in reality - most people are way too wrapped up in their own issues to spend a lot of time (if any) thinking about yours. Not because people are jerks, it's just human nature. So, relax a little. :)
— KateSally

I'm 60. You pretty much are the person you are going to be at age 25. I still feel like I'm 29. The perfect age is 35. My best years for sex were my 40's. Get rolling. You'll be my age in about 4 years. Not literally, but it sure will seem like it's only 4 years. Take charge of your own life. There are good people and good careers but, ultimately, your company doesn't give a shit about you. Your government doesn't, either. Surround yourself with quality people. Let yourself get excited about stuff. The only thing you have perfect control over is what you say no to. Say no to the right stuff: addiction, unplanned pregnancies, living beyond you means, serious criminal activity, abusive partners, … Say yes to the thing that you weren't expecting but now makes perfect sense, and you'll know that thing when you see it. Believe me, you will. No one knows the ultimate destination, follow a road that looks promising. It's great to wonder at the big questions (what it all means, where do I fit,…) but move forward while you wonder. Work, enjoy yourself and be saving a little money while you figure out the big picture. It's all good
— picksandchooses

I'm 60 and I'd like to tell young people that it's perfectly ok to be ordinary.
— Moon-owl

If you spend a lot of time on the internet, you're going to come across this idea that all older people are just as clueless as you are, and everybody is basically "faking it", and nobody has any idea what the hell they're doing. In the past, this sentiment was used mostly in regards to some of the more serious, heavy, philosophical stuff...coping with tragedy, finding meaning and purpose, achieving happiness, or even feeling stress and anxiety over getting the bills paid, or losing your job, etc. The idea was that you discover that your parents seemed unshakable when you were a kid, and you discover later as an adult that you *do* get shaken. But lately, this sentiment has morphed in to an excuse for pushing 30 and not having your shit together at all. "Oh no! I never have any clean laundry! Adulting is hard! And my job interview is tomorrow! We're all just big kids, wearing mismatched socks on picture day, tee hee." It's ok to not have all the answers as you get older. It's not ok to not have the answers to really basic stuff. And believe it or not, a lot of adults actually *do* have their shit together. Behind the veneer, they are actually competent, responsible, and capable people. It's ok to not have all the answers. It's not ok to have the skillset, capabilities, and mindset of an 18 year old leaving home for the first time.
— CampusTour

The person you've got instant feelings for probably isn't going to be good for you. You'll ignore red flags because you feel "the spark". That's what you're supposed to follow, right? No. Love doesn't start with a bang and fizzle out like a candle that's being burnt at both ends. Love needs to be built. It's a choice, not a feeling. Find someone who you can spend good and enjoyable time with and allow those feelings to develop. Don't give up so easily.
— ChopNess

Grades in high school do not define how smart you are or how successful you will be in life, but they do determine how much a college will pay you to attend their university in the form of scholarships which will drastically affect your financial future for decades. Your grades are not to impress anyone, just to secure yourself an easier life.
— Vealophile

Where somebody gets successful, hundreds if not thousands of others have tried and failed. You don't become rich and/or famous by simply being the best or putting in most effort. There's a significant amount of luck involved, even if you try your best. Luck in where you live, luck in who you know, luck of getting good genes, luck in the opportunities that present themselves. Even if you give it all. Now you could say "if that is such a small chance, why should I try", because if you stop trying, you will never reach your full potential and it also prevents you from doing things and going to places you could have never imagined. You might not be the next Zuckerberg, but you can at least become the best of being you.
— Martinspire

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