Day Twenty Three: Things I've Learned That School Won't Teach You

I've found myself a little behind with the challenge and blogging in general this week, so here I am catching up on day twenty-three of the challenge. The topic for yesterday was: 'Things you've learnt that school won't teach you.'

Well, I left secondary school twelve years ago, and college ten, and I personally think I've educated myself about a great deal of things during this time that a qualified teacher never taught me. Most of life's great lessons are learnt through living life, and not through recognised education; although, of course, kids, that is important, too.

Life is short- Don't waste it. Live every day well, and do the things you want to do before it's too late. We never know when our circumstances will change, or our life might end.

You will regret the things you didn't do, over the things you did- Say yes, take chances, have fun, be impulsive! You don't want to look back on wasted years with regret.

You can't wait for life to come to you, you need to go out there and make it happen- If you spend your life waiting for everything to magically fall in to place, you'll probably find yourself living in an unhappy rut for a very long time. I speak from experience. Don't make the mistakes I did.

It's not easy to make a life plan- I didn't know what to do with my life, and I was too scared to take a leap of faith and pursue ideas. I ended up living in a rut for nine years before I injured myself. Teachers at school always made life decisions sound so easy. I still haven't decided what I want to do, or where I want life to take me, but I will make myself be brave and take chances when I'm more physically capable to do so.

Life isn't a fairy tale- Growing up, we're led to believe that life is like a fairy tale. We'll grow up, become an astronaut, get married to Prince Charming, have babies, live in a nice house in suburbia, and we'll live happily ever after. The end. Only, sadly life isn't a fairy tale, and we don't always get to live the life we dreamt of. Bad things happen, and things don't always go the way we planned.

Life is what you make it- You can choose to make the best of what you've got and what's available to you, and enjoy your life. Or you can be miserable and negative. The choice is yours.

That bad things do happen to good people and life isn't fair- At school, we're still quite sheltered from the negative parts of the current world. We don't ever think that bad things will happen to us or the people we know, and that everything will work out well for us. The sad truth is, bad things happen all the time to good, innocent people. We can lose our lives, or everything we hold dear in a heart beat.

Depression is a bitch- Depression is exhausting, life-altering, a daily battle, a struggle, isolating, devastating... it is one of the hardest battles any person can go through. And it's surprisingly common; don't feel like you're alone, or there's something wrong with you for being depressed. You don't have to go through it alone; ask for help. I wish that depression and other mental illnesses were part of secondary school curriculum. I certainly would have appreciated that information at the time.

Disc injuries don't just happen to the old- Until it happened to me, I always associated disc injuries with the older generations. I didn't even think young (ish!) folks like myself (who am I kidding?), could injure their discs. Evidently, I was wrong.

The NHS will not make it their mission to magically make you better- I also used to assume that doctors and other medical professionals were dedicated to making patients better, and that they wouldn't stop persisting with your health issues until they made you well again. Sadly, my local NHS has left me feeling abandoned, and let down. I know there are so many fantastic, dedicated doctors and nurses who do work hard to make their patients well again- including my older sister, and I'm not attempting to offend anybody who works for them, but I no longer have faith in the system.

You don't know what pain is until you've herniated a disc- I thought I knew pain before this happened, but I was wrong. Nothing comes close to disc pain, not even getting tattooed on the foot, or a broken wrist. It hurts. A. Lot.

Living life should be encouraged- Making memories is far more important than having possessions. We should be encouraged to travel, sight-see, explore, have fun, and do stuff, instead of working ourselves down in to the ground or just holding back.

Love doesn't happen for everyone- Some people don't get married, or find love at all, and that's okay. You don't have to be paired up to live a full, happy live.

You don't have to have kids if you don't want them- Society teaches us that everybody wants kids, and if you don't, you're not normal. It's okay if you don't want to have kids; and it's okay if you do. It's your decision at the end of the day, and it's up to you to make the right decision for you!

It's okay to be different- Being the same as everybody else is boring. Just be yourself!

Your size doesn't equal your worth- It's what's on the inside that counts!

Bullying isn't just confined to the school yard- We learn about bullying when we're at school, but we're never told that bullying can happen to adults, too. Sadly, it does, and it can happen anywhere from the work place to in our own homes.

Friendship isn't often forever- When we're young we're sure we'll always be best friends with our best friends, but as we grow as people and live our lives, things change, and some friendships gradually fall apart. It's a sad fact of life, but while we lose some friends, we gain new ones.

Store cards are a bad idea- A very, very bad idea! If they're not used carefully, you may find yourself in debt quicker than you can break out the plastic. Only spend the money you have to spare.

There's more to life than working and getting drunk- Working all week, and then spending the weekends out getting drunk may be the norm these days, but there is also more to life that acquainting yourself with all the bars and pubs in your local city, and dedicating yourself to a job you hate. Get out there and travel, explore, and sight-see! And most importantly, do what makes you happy!

I'm sure I could keep on sharing my life's lessons with you, but I shall leave it there. I hope you've enjoyed this post. What have you learnt since leaving school?