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Putting the Vice in Advice

Share three pieces of advice you’ve received through your life that you wish you had heard earlier.

Advice? I'm more into vice.

It's not that people didn't give me this advice when I was younger; it's more that I was so sure I would be the exception that I didn't fucking listen. Which I guess is the same thing as "I wish I'd heard the advice."

1. It's okay to be alone.

Turns out it's better to be alone than to be with someone who's wrong for you. Who knew? Well... literally everybody, except me of course.

On the other hand, I've known people who were deathly afraid of being alone. I suppose that advice wouldn't have worked out for them, but it seems that I'm mostly introverted anyway, so being with other people isn't a high priority for me. Sure, I need it sometimes, but usually a bartender is enough.

2. Exercise daily.

I'm sure this seems obvious to people. Hell, it's obvious to me, now. But I thought I could break all the rules, again, and I ended up playing catch-up after some medical issues. I always figured, what's the point of living longer if you're just having to spend all that extra time exercising? I still believe that, in theory, but it turns out there are more immediate benefits, not just potentially longer life.

3. Budget.

My parents did a fair job talking to me about money, but it still wasn't enough. I was stupid about money matters for way too long. It's not like these things are taught in schools; I had to figure it all out on my own. When I did, my epiphany was like, "Huh. My parents were right." Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at these things), by that time my mom was gone and my dad wasn't in any position to say "I told you so," or anything else coherent for that matter.

There's also a great deal of advice that you hear that's utter bullshit. Or, to be fair, it's bullshit for you; maybe not so much for the person offering it. The real question, then, is: how do you tell good advice from bad?

Unfortunately, the answer to that is, "Make your own mistakes." I doubt I'd have learned anything if I hadn't come to these conclusions myself. I'm stubborn like that. So here's my advice:

Don't take advice.