To ask what the best advice you've ever been given is?

[Champagneformyrealfriends]

Just that really. Following on from the "worst advice on Mumsnet" thread-what is the best advice you've ever been given (real life or Mumsnet)?

It's impossible until it is done

I also heard on tele:
Be nice or fuck off

The advice in Baz Lehrman's 'Sunscreen'.

Awesome.

well, it is a bit niche but...

if you are going out with a man/woman from another country/culture, make sure you go and stay in their country/culture for a few weeks before you committ, as then you will see another side to them. (not necessarily a better or worse side, just different and it may not be a difference you like)

my dh is not English and I am. Whenever people ask me about cross cultural relationships, this is the one I pass on.

My Irish Mum was full of great advice.

She used to say, "Never lose your temper until it would be detrimental to keep it".

I think that's wise, and the reason I learned to pick my battles.

By far the best advice "If you you can't say something nice,shut the fuck up "

The best advice I've been given is to not trust anyone else's advice, but to listen to my own gut feelings

Today's favour is tomorrow's obligation

Wish I'd heard that one earlier, would have saved me a mountain of trouble

Ds has fairly recently been diagnosed with SN and while on a night out recently I was having a bit of a cry to a friend whose ds also has SN that it's all "a bit shit". He told me "no, it's not shit. It's allowed to be challenging, it's allowed to be hard but it's not allowed to be shit." Best piece of drunken advice I've ever had.

Worra your mum spoke a lot of sense.

You can only be the parent you can be. A friend told me that and it rings true.

My mum's answer to even the direst of situations was always "never mind love, lets put the kettle on". Usually seems to work!

My brother who is not particularly known for his sage advice, was asked by his friend (who was going through a particularly bad time), "Why does bad luck always come in threes/all at once".

He said, "Because if the shit things that happen in life were spaced out evenly, we'd all just have a really shit life".

Bloody true when you think about it

My lovely grandmother said to me every time i left the house (we lived together) "If you can't be good, be careful".

Stuck with me like glue that, because I was a rebellious sort and often doing things like drinking etc even now I use it because I have a tendency to do whatever I like. But I'm safe so far!

My grandparents always said to me travel when you are young and can enjoy it, they never got to go abroad until they retired, always think of that when I am thinking about booking a holiday

Whatever you say, say nothing

FabFiveFreddie, too much sense at times!

Her favourite saying (when we were trying to pull the wool over her eyes), was, "You must think I'm a mushroom".

"A mushroom, mum?"

"Yeah, used to being kept in the dark and fed a diet of bullshit"

Worra I love that so true.

Walking one of my sisters ex boyfriends used to say that-always made me smile!

My lovely grandmother said to me every time i left the house (we lived together) "If you can't be good, be careful".

Mine used to say, "If you can't be good, practise your alibi and your smile"

Worra I think that works better for me...

"You are 100 percent responsible for the results that you get."

Once I got this, I stopped blaming other people or external circumstances when I was unhappy, and realised that if I wanted something to change, it was up to me to change it.

My Nan's favourite saying is 'what's for you won't pass you'. I find it extremely comforting when life isn't going quite how I expected. Life will pan out exactly how it should, even if it's not what you'd planned or anticipated.

My GP recently told me that the best advice he could give any young woman is to be a selfish bitch. Which helped me massively. I'd succumbed to the societal (and in my case familial) expectation that women should always be caring and selfless and prioritise everyone else. It was a bit of a revelation to realise that I could actually put my needs first. I'd never done that.

More prosaic than lots of the above, but a personal shopper once told me to never buy a piece of clothing unless I could think of at least three items in my wardrobe it would go with ' so if thinking about buying a skirt, I needed to think if i had at least three tops it would go with.

I've stuck to this advice ever since and it's saved me making some costly mistakes.

"If you have two choice and the decision is really hard, it means that neither option is shite.

So make the best decision you can, on the evidence you have at the time, and don't look back."

It's worked for me. Too many opportunities can be dazzling but we are so lucky. 50 years ago I would have grown up, married and died in my tiny village frustrated and bored stiff. As it is, I've travelled to countries lots of people haven't even heard of.

My own advice to myself is that you can learn something from every single person you meet. Even if that thing is not to be like them.

Three clichés which will always be true:
Don't sweat the small stuff
If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is
Buy cheap, buy twice

"Don't be afraid of the silence."

Meaning, if in doubt, if under pressure, say nothing, just wait, let there be silence, just think, don't scurry to fill the silence.