The Ramblings of an "old" man.

Greetings all! Long time reader first time poster. Near my birthday every year I always start to get nostalgic. This year it hit me, I entered high school 20 years ago. Gross. It got me thinking though...of the things I would tell myself if I could somehow share knowledge with my past self. I thought I would share some of these thoughts with you all, in hopes that maybe some of it will help some of you young-ins.

In no particular order:

Experience has more weight than a college degree in most cases.

Don't keep score in your relationships, but definitely recognize toxicity.

The job market is constantly in flux. The jobs in demand now likely won't be 8 or 9 years from now (high school + college). Do something you love.

Don't be afraid of failure. It's much much better to try and fail at something, than not to try at all. Unless you are doing X-Games type stuff. Maybe don't try that.

You WILL make mistakes, now matter how hard you try. Learn from them though.

Cherish your family.

Neither the Republicans nor Democrats in Washington care about you. View DC politics as you would pro-wrestling, as fictional entertainment.

ALL conservative AND liberal mainstream media is biased, and pushing an agenda. Take all of it with several grains of salt. Always ask yourself the question, "Why are they reporting this"?

Learn how to change a flat tire.

Love and infatuation are not the same thing. Be very wary of their differences.

Never be afraid to say something positive to someone. You never know who really needs to hear it.

Take an auto shop and wood shop class, even if that is not your "thing". Especially if it is not your "thing".

Don't air personal grievances on social media.

Be polite.

Don't ever change who you are as a person for someone, but don't be an asshole either.

If you have an opinion on a sensitive issue, make sure you fully understand the opposing viewpoint running your mouth about it.

Driving while under the influence is really stupid.

Do whatever you can to stay out of debt. Money you think will be coming in the future probably won't be, and if it does it will be less than you are expecting.

First impressions are much more important than you think they are.

Networking is not mandatory, but it will make your professional life significantly easier.

Don't concern yourself with popularity.

Observe how people treat others, this will give you keen insight to who the truly are.

Don't expect people to treat you better than you treat them.

Find your self-worth from within.

ALL financial investments have risk. There are no guarantees. If it sounds too good to be true it is.

Be flexible.

You're intelligent, but you are not wise. Your friends probably aren't wise either.

The previous generation IS tougher.

Build redundancy in your life. Plan for Murphy's law. Things will go wrong at the worst possible time.

All life is precious.

The world owes you nothing. You will get out of life what you put in.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Be able to laugh at yourself.

Close your mouth, and open your ears.

It's probably not the jungler's fault.

Be on time, ESPECIALLY in your professional life. The older your boss, the more he values punctuality.

Everyone has a college degree. This alone is not enough to set you apart from others.

Take a personal finance class. Seriously. Mistakes you make now with debt and credit will take years to repair. More years than you think.

Take responsibility for yourself. If you mess up, own it, and fix it.

Don't believe that you have to start college immediately after high school.

That's all that i have time for now. Good luck in your lanes everyone! Perhaps I'll do a "parent" edition later :)