Monday 1 November 2010

Secrets of Adulthood

I've been reading Gretchen Rubin's marvellous book, The Happiness Project, in which she comes up with a list of great Secrets of Adulthood, which are the things you wish you'd known all along, and only understand with (often bitter) experience.  It got me thinking about my own list.  I'm still working on it, but here's what I've thought of so far:
  • People are usually far too immersed in themselves to spare the time and effort to hate you as much as you think they do.
  • Do a little each day, and you'll get a lot done (with thanks to Gretchen Rubin and Michael Nobbs)
  • You don't have to be good at everything.
  • You don't need at outfit for every occasion in your wardrobe.
  • Not everyone is going to like you.
  • Never have anything to do with a man who says, "I love you, but as a friend...."
  • Don't sleep with the boss.
  • Always keep a supply of spare light bulbs and loo paper in the house.
  • Don't sleep in after the age of 40.
  • Always keep a journal.
  • Take a sweater (and an umbrella).
  • Eat your frogs first...
  • Wrap cut onions in foil before you put them in the fridge.
  • You can't change other people; you can only change yourself.
What would your list of Secrets include?  Add a few to the comments section below....

(Oh, and apologies, but I still can't get my machine to upload photos onto Blogger, so I am sorry for the lack of illustrations lately.)
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3 comments:

  1. Amelia1 November 2010 at 23:05

    I looked up the book on amazon, and it seems like a really fun project - maybe I'll have to borrow it? Here are my thoughts...

    * Read what you want to read not what you 'should' read, life's too short!
    * There is nothing nicer than clean bedding.
    * Don't talk about customers on the shop floor - even if you think they're gone, they always re-appear!
    * Buying cheap shoes is a false economy.
    * The best friends are the ones you can not talk to for weeks then it's as if you've never been apart when you do talk.

    Also, I definitely agree about the lightbulbs; i never have any and it's a real pain in the bum!

    And I'm thinking of starting a blog...

    Love Amelia :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Susie2 November 2010 at 09:31

    * The easiest way to chop leafy herbs is in a mug, with scissors.

    * Panicking never makes anything better.

    And I entirely agree with the point about friends, but as a lousy letter writer with friends scattered across the globe I've discovered the time frame is much longer. A true friendship can take a break of over a decade without missing a beat; even a gap of quarter of a century can be bridged by a long lunch.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3 November 2010 at 10:20

    I think that:

    *Holding a grudge is a waste of time and energy.

    *Regrets are much the same - accept that a mistake was made and move on. Time travel to correct previous errors is not yet possible and so fretting over what has been is pointless. Just don't do it again.

    *Cats are the best solution to just about any problem. And what cannot be solved with a cat can be solved with tea.

    *It doesn't matter what car you drive. Just having something with wheels that goes forwards is a real blessing.

    And, like Amelia said, the best friends are the ones you just know are there, regardless of how often you see them.

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