Life Lessons

July 26, 2013 4:57 PM

The first question that I was originally going to ask was going to be what are the fifty things that every human being should know by the time they are thirty? After thinking about the question though, I'm not sure that I would get too much consensus on these various things. So that being said, what sort life lessons should most people be aware of? What sort of skill matrix would you go by to ensure that your children are ready for becoming adults? Granted, it's not like once they are out there, that they can't telephone home and ask for help, but there has to be some sort of list. What would the list entail for all adults whether they be in their early twenties or thirties? From a social perspective, what sort of things would you want your kids to be aware of outside of gaining experience in sports, school, and particular social situations?
posted by nidora to Human Relations (7 answers total)

These don't exactly answer your question, but you can probably find something useful in some of these previouslies
posted by brainmouse at 5:01 PM on July 26, 2013

Have a look here.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 5:04 PM on July 26, 2013

Response by poster: Not getting many responses from this post. Perhaps a better way of putting it would have been, what mistakes do you wish that you had made when you were in your teens rather than later in life? What errors do you wish that you had made socially earlier in life rather than later?

Lastly, for those of you are somewhat into philosophy, what are your thoughts about constructed realities and cause and effect?
posted by nidora at 5:12 PM on July 26, 2013

Teach them to cook.
Teach them to do basic household chores.
Teach them basic household maintenance, repairs and car maintenance.
Teach them basic budgeting and saving.

Teach them that so many of the big things in their life aren't as big as they appear while they are in the middle of all the drama. Teach them "That this too shall pass" for both good days and bad days.
posted by wwax at 5:12 PM on July 26, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: "That this too shall pass" for both the good days and bad days" was something that I used to believe. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that all situations resolve themselves? I don't want to get into specifics, but I'm not sure the situation I'm in will ever resolve. I let down a lot of people including myself. My ability to learn and build relationships has been compromised.

"This too shall pass." It sounds overly optimistic at this point.
posted by nidora at 5:20 PM on July 26, 2013

I think a huge thing is to learn how to accept responsibility for yourself and understand that you can't change or control how other people feel or act.

Basic things like etiquette (how to introduce people, etc.) will make a person feel more comfortable and confident.
posted by dawkins_7 at 5:21 PM on July 26, 2013

About the "this too shall pass" stuff, maybe think of it more like - don't get too wrapped up in the bad times, they won't be bad forever but enjoy the good times while you can because it won't last either. Life is all about change - just because something has changed (even for the worse) doesn't mean that your life is ruined, more just that it has changed.
posted by dawkins_7 at 5:23 PM on July 26, 2013