Bad pearls

A lot of young minds are not immune to the plethora of unsolicited advice provided by the older ones. As frustrating as it is to sit and listen to elder people telling you how you could possibly live your life in a better way, it is also undeniable that somehow these little pieces of information worm their way into our psyche and take shelter. Sometimes we might not even like the other person enough to approve their way of living life. Yet, we fail to understand the deep impact of social influencing. Some would argue that their advice is only going to save me from trouble but life is a lonely voyage and oftentimes I need to drop the anchor all by myself. Advice of any kind not only robs me of the pleasure to seek my own perspective but also affects it unfairly. This could come from peers, strangers or worse even, your own folks. Ironically, here are some of the most useless pieces life advice to ignore, especially in your 20s. 

1. “You need to get good grades otherwise life will be difficult.”

In all honesty, my good grades got me nowhere but caused me headaches. Degrees and numbers don’t matter anymore like they used to. You can top in every class with your grades but if you don’t apply what you’re studying and shape them as skills you are good for nothing. Skills are everything. Be it communication, negotiation, branding or body language even. These are the things that will actually make your life easy and take you places. Plus, everyone is good at something but the education system is a closed box and a tiny one in that. People who get good grades just got lucky because it was their box. 

2. “A job is a job, don’t expect it to give you joy.”

I read somewhere that when you are choosing careers, you should always ask yourself what work you would like to do instead of what designation you would prefer. Of course nothing is perfect and you might have to compromise on certain things when it comes to jobs, like maybe the travel time or working on Saturdays and such. But what you should never agree to, is doing something that does not mentally stimulate you, make you grow and learn something new. It’s the least you can expect from a job that might sustain you for the time to come. Some part of it, if not most, should align with your true self and purpose.

3. “Don’t waste your 20s, they are your time to shine.”

I think your 20s are just for messing up. They are for making mistakes and falling and failing and trying and falling again. And yes, there are people out there who do great things in their 20s but they are the exceptions. Realistically, your 20s is when life actually starts feeling real. Most importantly, you’re finding yourself. And it’s all about you. It should be about you. A lot of soul-crushing moments happen, a lot of breath-taking moments happen and it’s all overwhelming. Add on to that, peer pressure with a pinch of social media guilt-tripping. And expecting to be all settled by your 20s after all this, for what? What is the rest of your life for? I’ll shine in my 80s with my walking stick if I have to but I’ll shine with pride.

Self-help books are dangerously similar to common bad advice for young adults but if you learn to gauge what is right and wrong for yourself, you at least have the choice of shutting the book, unlike the mouths of some people. 

Images from: Cosmos