The most important piece of wisdom I have learned is to always be self-sufficient. Never depend on others for support or help, but rather, always have the means of accomplishing tasks on your own as much as possible.
I have found that being self-sufficient is a great way to live, because you cannot always count on another person being there to help you. This way, you will not be expecting help from others, and therefore will make yourself be prepared to handle tough situations alone.
I think this is especially important when a person starts college. When I moved into my dorm, I felt lost at first. My parents weren’t there to give me moral support when I needed it, and whether I had clean laundry was up to me (my mom wasn’t there to constantly prompt me to do it). I was always an independent child, but I had never experienced completed independence until I moved out of my parents’ house.
I became great at managing my time, which I had never been great at in high school, and I became great at taking care of myself when I was sick and taking precautions to avoid getting sick. The first time I was sick in college, it was horrible. I needed chicken noodle soup (a staple I now keep on hand at all times), I needed Nyquil, and I needed someone to do my enormous pile of laundry. Even though I felt like crap, Mom wasn’t there to help out, so I had to take care of these things myself.
I learned a lot from that situation. As I mentioned before, I keep chicken noodle soup in the pantry at all times, and I also try to keep my medicine cabinet stocked. I now apply the lesson I learned from that situation to everything in my life. I always make sure I know what is due in all of my classes, because even if I call a friend from class, who knows if he or she will remember what is due. If I need something from the store, I get it myself, because who knows if my husband will have time to stop by the store on his way home. This wisdom can be applied to so many different areas of life, so it is definitely an important piece of wisdom in my book.
Erin Said:
on September 30, 2009 at 12:10 am
being self-sufficient is such an important skill to have, i think. i was fortunate (or at least, in retrospect i feel fortunate) enough to have had a very independent childhood and adolescence, so when i came to college i was pretty prepared to be on my own. i saw other people struggling because they needed their parents or a significant other to be dependent on, and it made me sad. good advice:)