What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

[Awwwwooooga]

I thought I had read this thread before but can’t seem to find it, so I’ll ask again. What’s the best advice that you’ve ever received? I’m in need of some inspiration. My two are:
Don’t take criticism from someone who you wouldn’t take advice from; and
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good

Sometimes good enough is good enough.

I love this - just what I needed to hear. Thank you

Not following my gut feeling, which I actually acknowledged was telling me not to do something, led me to make the worst mistake of my life which has had far reaching consequences. So I will never not listen to it again personally. I used to agree with you though.

From a friend when I was wondering whether to volunteer for something, which I’d just been asked to do:

Sit on your hands.

ie don’t metaphorically put your hand up and offer or agree to do it.

It follows from the saying “If you want someone to do something, ask a busy person.”

I was that busy person, and now I’m not, at least not as much.

Never engage in a conversation about politics. Oh, and treasure and make the most of everyday of the young years of your children.

Assumption is the mother of all f**k ups.

It’s the unexpected you have to expect in life.

Dry between your toes.

Can't remember the exact words but it was something like: if you keep doing the shit job no-one else wants to do, they'll just keep letting you to do it. It sounded better the way she said it!

@Maddy70

Does this apply to heroin and group sex too? 🫤

From my Gran:

For every problem under the sun,
there is an answer or there is none.

If there is one, try to find it,
If there is none, never mind it.

Also from Gran;

"Never say goodbye to a loved one without saying I love you".

From one of my Uni instructors:

"Just remember, when you're standing shoulder deep in horse shit, there's a pony in there somewhere. So just keep looking for the pony."

"Let us be lovely and let us be kind,
Let us be silly and free.
It won't make us famous;
It won't make us rich,
But damnit, how happy we'll be!"

• Purple Ronnie ❤️

“You can do a lot with a bit of goodwill.”

It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

Don't count the days, make the days count.

I've tried to live by this.

Mine:

1. ALWAYS have your own money.
2. Never go into anything you can't get out of. (I've turned down a few 'amazing' opportunities on this basis, still think I was right.)
3. You have the right to say No.
4. Don't listen when people tell you who you are, what you can & can't do.

Oh, and ... When you're the only naked woman in the room, you're the only woman in the world 😆

Told not to be a hero (in relation to labour and asking for pain relief or help or just speaking up, pregnant with first child)
Told to prioritise my first child's birthday and it would be his last as an only child (when pregnant with my second child)
Both said by a work colleague, an older motherly type. We weren't close so I was a bit taken aback (both times) with her bluntness. But the advice was so right.

I would also add, learned by (painful) experience:

Listen to your instincts. That voice in your head or that insistent feeling. Listen.
Do not care what other people think. I still need reminding of this one regularly
You do not need to keep people in your life just because they have always been there. Presence does not a friend make.

In relation to struggling financially - worrying doesn't make money.

In relation to my disability, the best thing someone said was you can only do what you can. Sounds like obvious advice but it's very easy to get frustrated and upset when you're restricted by a body that doesn't do what it used to without a gargantuan effort/severe pain. That advice really helped to stop beating myself up over not having the energy to force myself to do things I used to find easy.

My favourite is to be nostalgic for the time you're living in.

I also love if life gives you lemons, just say fuck the lemons and bail.

It's ok if some people don't like you.

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Everything you want on life is on the other side of fear.

What other people think of you is none of your business.

You are the person you keep around you.

So many life tips on this thread!

It’s okay tI change my mind and to put myself first. I had offered to rent when selling my house but couldn’t find anywhere suitable and a house came up that I wanted to buy so I did - it only delayed the sale by 2 weeks. It was worth the awkward conversations.

try to think how you’d feel if someone did it to you

Was always told first thing to remember is panicking fixes nothing. Breathe and put one step in front of the other

People are mostly good, they just may have had it tough (there was a really bitter lady on our road that my mum used to do loads of stuff for and so did we by default 😉), most people stayed away from her because she was so angry but when I was older mum was telling me that when she was younger she was lovely but lost a lot of people, had a lot of health issues and people took advantage of her because she was well off and she ended up lonely and irritable

TheHawkisHowling

In relation to struggling financially - worrying doesn't make money.
oh wow, this is magic- so true x

‘If you keep picking the same sort of men, you’ll keep having the same sort of problems’ - My mum, pre DH. Absolutely no idea why this hadn’t occurred to me before.

’If you lay down with dogs, you’ll get fleas’ - my mum again, rightly concerned about the company I was keeping at the time.

‘Play with feathers and you’ll get your arse tickled’ - A variation of playing with fire, but this one stuck with me.

’You don’t have to accept someone’s invitation to have an argument with them’ - I saw this on here and it has served DH (who works in retail) very well.

‘Fuck em’ - my favourite