this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2024
215 points (99.1% liked)

Asklemmy

43939 readers
733 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Melobol@lemmy.ml 111 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

The thing that comes only with age is: to not give a fuck.

When we learn that it doesn't matter we can all be little old people who are purple mohawk headed, wearing clashing neon adidas jumpsuit with zebra primted boas.

[–] ChihuahuaOfDoom@lemmy.world 44 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I only learned this a few weeks ago at 40 years old, now my hair is blue, both my ears are pierced and I'm a lot happier. I told my 19 year old daughter that "what will people think?" has been my mantra, now it's "fuck 'em"

[–] foggy@lemmy.world 37 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

"at 20, you care the world what everyone thinks of you

At 40 you learn to not care what anyone thinks of you

At 60, you realize nobody has been thinking about you at all, the whole time."

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] henfredemars@infosec.pub 19 points 3 weeks ago

There’s always someone who will look at your life telling you you’re doing everything wrong. And you know what? That’s fine. It really doesn’t matter.

[–] gasgiant@lemmy.ml 91 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The sunk cost fallacy is a very easy way to get stuck being miserable.

Sometimes a drastic change might be painful at the time but will be much better for you overall.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Volkditty@lemmy.world 86 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

To just invest in broad index funds instead of trying to play the stock market.

Bogleheads

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] actually@lemmy.world 68 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

Brushing teeth regularly, and flossing , is more important than I ever realized.

[–] meekah@lemmy.world 25 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

I'm dreading the day my bad mouth hygiene will catch up to me... I know how bad it is but I still can't get myself to brush every night.

[–] RoquetteQueen@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

Have you tried putting your toothbrush and toothpaste in the shower? I've struggled with brushing my whole life and this is the only thing I've ever tried that actually worked. I also put a brush and paste at every sink but the only time I can ever actually manage to brush is in the shower.

[–] wildwhitehorses@aussie.zone 14 points 3 weeks ago

Brush whilst the water is heating up means you're doing your bit to help the environment! And other such half truths I tell myself to get through the day.

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[–] SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 54 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I'm a perfectionist and I realized I've been making life too hard for myself. Choosing a low bar for success but keeping the ceiling high has felt like a much healthier approach.

[–] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 29 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

The consultant's proverb: done is better than perfect

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] MicrondeMMMMMMM@lemmy.blahaj.zone 53 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

People just don't care about you that much, if you go into the street wearing nail polish as a a male presenting person no one will care if you don't act weird about it. Same thing for shaving your legs.

Family might care though, what helped me was understanding that I spend a few days per year with my family maximum, but I spend that whole time with myself. So who cares what they thinkbe yourself.

This helped me start transitioning at 19

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 50 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

"Fake it till you make it" doesn't mean pretend to be happy until you are happy. I committed to a relationship I wasn't happy in, a career I wasn't happy in, and hobbies I wasn't happy doing, all because I wanted the approval of others. A divorce, career change, and hobby swap made me much happier.

[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 32 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, fake it till you make it only applies to overcoming self doubt, and should not be used to dismiss glaring problems. It certaibly doesn't work as a cure all for actual problems.

It can in rare cases work for happiness, but only if the reason is one that is just based on self doubt while things are actually going well.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Asafum@feddit.nl 44 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

I was never going to "find myself" and so I should have just gone to college with my friends for computer science and made the good money when jobs were easier to get even though I had no interest at all in it. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that jazz. Now I'm a worthless schmuck in a factory living in someone's garage paying their mortgage in rent prices.

All my interests are hobbies, some of them even too expensive for me to do lol they're nothing you can monetize.

[–] digdilem@lemmy.ml 23 points 3 weeks ago

All my interests are hobbies, some of them even too expensive for me to do lol they’re nothing you can monetize.

Work is for making money, hobbies are for spending money. I think a lot of people mix that up and lose their enjoyment; money changes your perspective on why you're doing something.

[–] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 18 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Take heart: had you done comp sci just for the money, you'd be where you are now. Comp sci isn't for greedy people but for people who find it exciting and have no idea their career is timesheets. :-p

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] mathias_freire@lemmy.zip 42 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

The things that don't kill you, do not always make you stronger, but leave you wounded forever.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] fubarx@lemmy.ml 41 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)
  • Any work or study done during an all-nighter is a waste.

  • If you meet someone and all they do is talk about themselves, they won't be a good friend.

  • Nobody really cares how you look or what you wear. And anyone who does has bigger issues they would rather not deal with.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Any work or study done during an all-nighter is a waste.

Depends. I did some of my best work at this time (private project. not for my actual workplace).

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] JustAnOrdinaryCreep@lemmy.ml 39 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

That it doesn't matter what other people think of me as long as I'm happy.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world 38 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Your high school diploma. Nobody ever asks for it. No job I have ever held has asked for proof that I completed high school which I didn't. My last job had a class they wanted me to take at a night school and that's when they realized I didn't have it after 7 years of competent, exceptional work, so they just shrugged and got me in there anyways

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] sunbeam60@lemmy.one 35 points 3 weeks ago

Your own happiness is more important that somebody else’s happiness.

Not to say you shouldn’t be nice or help people, or invest in other people’s growth.

But don’t do it to the detriment of your own.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 34 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

You can just ask people out. You can just ask to kiss someone. I was in my mid 20s when someone told me the first one, and late 20s when someone told me the second one. Dating got a lot easier after each revelation.

[–] EddoWagt@feddit.nl 19 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

You can just ask people out.

I know I can, but you think I dare do that?

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] KingGordon@lemmy.world 32 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

At 50 I learned I’d been tying my shoes wrong my entire life.

https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/grannyknot.htm

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] ILikeTraaaains@lemmy.world 29 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Not too late but later than I should have:

  • To seek professional mental health help
  • To understand that Bisexuality really exists. Growing up and in my teens in media and pop culture it’s seemed that you either were gay or straight, no other option.
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ntn888@lemmy.ml 29 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

That there's a opensource version of reddit!!

load more comments (1 replies)

Relationships can be anything you want them to be. I wish I spent less time trying to figure out if someone liked me and just tried to have fun with everyone I met.

[–] johsny@lemmy.world 27 points 3 weeks ago

Compound interest.

[–] funtrek@discuss.tchncs.de 26 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Stoicism. The philosophical ideas of how to live a purposeful and good life.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Hayduke@lemmy.world 25 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Manage your finances. Know where every penny goes. Budget as best as you can - plan for all of the things you know you spend money on through a year. It doesn't mean you can't spend money on things you like, but it does mean that you know when you can afford it. It gives you confidence and control no matter how much you are making.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Jonnyprophet@lemmy.world 24 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

When someone is abusive or hurtful to you, 90% of the time it's not your fault. It's that there is something wrong or something broken in them. They are malfunctioning and it's necessary to understand that.

The other 10%.... Well, own that and fix your mistake.

But a very large majority of the time, it's them being broken and wrong.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] No1@aussie.zone 23 points 3 weeks ago

That it's never too late!

[–] bruhsoulz@lemmy.ml 22 points 3 weeks ago (4 children)

Basic necessities arent a given and one should b grateful for em

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] HelixDab2@lemm.ee 21 points 3 weeks ago (5 children)

That I have moderately severe to severely severe ADHD and I'm on the autism spectrum.

Makes functioning as an adult quite difficult.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] Grayox@lemmy.ml 20 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Empathy, Hurt people hurt people.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Dogiedog64@lemmy.world 19 points 3 weeks ago

It's OK to only do what you KNOW you are capable of doing. Too many people hurt themselves trying to push themselves too hard, when they just aren't ready yet.

[–] Alice@beehaw.org 19 points 3 weeks ago (6 children)

My family is never going to return the favor. Should've gone to school instead of taking care of them.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] hperrin@lemmy.world 19 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Lying can get you ahead in the immediate, but then you’re a liar, and liars lose friends and alienate people.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] QuincyPeck@lemmy.world 18 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 18 points 3 weeks ago (8 children)

Being a good person is a weakness in capitalist civilizations.

load more comments (8 replies)
[–] SSJ3Marx@hexbear.net 16 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Shoulda took those language lessons more seriously.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 15 points 3 weeks ago

Take it sleazy. Not for everyone, but for some people the most productive way of getting stuff done is doing it with less effort. Don't go too fast and burn out

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Probably would’ve been nice to know I was trans a few years younger but I started hormones at 20 as did a friend my age who came out at 16, so like it probably would’ve been less consequential than much.

The importance of studying. And related, calculus and how electricity works. Both would’ve saved me a lot of money to have learned 6 months earlier.

Also how to say no to someone trying to negotiate your boundaries and use your kindness to push you into a relationship. I should’ve walked away the second she said she wanted to negotiate my no and that she wasn’t going to give up on pursuing me. That situation fucked me up and wasn’t even the first time someone with insufficiently controlled bpd wound up pressuring me into romantic/sexual situations I wasn’t comfortable with by making it harder to say no than to give what they wanted.

[–] WhatYouNeed@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago

Dad was not lying on top of mum to squash her.

No matter how much 6yr old me was complaining after entering their room early one morning.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 weeks ago

you don't have to make a living from the thing you enjoy most in life, in fact it's sometimes better not to.

load more comments
view more: next ›