Cliche Life Lessons that are Actually True!

I really feel like cliches get a bad wrap! When something is cliche, it’s often overused, or mocked as being unoriginal or stereotypical, however, I think cliches become cliche for a reason, because more often than not, they are true! Sometimes, when it comes to people, we can hear something over and over again, and never really understand what it means, but once you do, it can be a very powerful experience. This has happened to me time and time again when it comes to certain cliche life lessons. So, I thought today I would share with you some of the cliche life lessons I have personally had experience with, why they are true and why you should be paying more attention to them in your own life!

Who you were in high school doesn’t matter

Now, it’s been years since I was in high school. Heck, it’s been years since I was in college! But I still remember my grandfather blowing my world wide open when he sat me down to tell me about why it wasn’t important for me to be the best or brightest person in my high school class. “I take the fact that you don’t get straight A’s as a good thing,” he told me. “Because you never end up hearing about those straight A students after high school is over. It’s the one’s like you, who are flying just below the radar that end up doing great things later on in college and beyond.” Now, I was a very good student, don’t get me wrong. I was the kind of kid that got mostly A’s and then a few B+s or sometimes the unfortunate B, but it often worried me that I wasn’t a straight A student. This news sort of rocked my world, but it went to much beyond grades! In high school, you think its important to be popular and well liked, as if being popular in high school is going to ever mean anything later on, but it doesn’t. All the popular kids from my school are (to be completely honest) basically nobody’s now. I’m sure they have great lives and all, but when I check my Facebook feed sporadically, I see that they all still live in the same small town, have an underwhelming career, and (not so much of a shocker) still hang out with the same crowd of people they were friends with in high school. It’s clear to me that not much has changed or improved in their lives and it appears that their glory days are all behind them! But you know who does have cool and interesting lives whenever I check in on Facebook? The offbeats. The kids who were flying under the radar, the ones who were decidedly unpopular. Instead of worrying about chasing the crowd in high school, they focused on doing their own thing and then in college, they continued to blossom in their own uniqueness! To me, this is why the cliche is true! Who you were in high school doesn’t matter, it’s four years of your life that may be hard and painful and awkward, but seriously, it determines nothing for you!

Love finds you when you’re not looking

For this next cliche, I have been something of a poster child! When I got to college, the last thing I was looking for was a relationship! I wanted to focus on my studies, get involved in the groups and activities that interested me, and the last thing I wanted was a boyfriend, but the thing is that love always seems to find you when you’re not looking. Specifically, when you are out and about, happy and cheerful, doing the things you love and letting your light shine on the world! I’ve watched so many lovely, smart and talented women waste their time trying to pursue opportunities for relationships all because that was what they thought they needed and/or wanted. All of them wound up empty handed, and you know why? Because love is not something you can find, it’s something you attract. It’s an energy like so many other intangibles in life and when you look for it, you can’t find it because its not something you can see! If you really want to find love and a meaningful relationship, try falling in love with yourself and your life and I bet you someone special will begin to notice!

Self confidence makes a difference

I think their is a misunderstanding in the world that confidence comes from experience. While I do find that many confident people have a wealth of life experience, when it comes to some people, no amount of experience ever seems to bring them confidence! I think I need to let you in on a little secret; confidence is a choice. Like waking up and choosing what shirt to put on in the morning, or what cereal you want to put in your bowl for breakfast, you must choose whether or not you are going to be confident. Now, of course, their is some skill to it, which is why practice makes perfect, but their is no reason why you shouldn’t be waking up each morning and choosing confidence. Why? Because confidence matters. Confidence is the difference between making decisions and being told what to do. It’s the difference between taking a comment as positive praise or negative snark. Imagine a life where you felt like you were in control? That’s the feeling confidence gives you, that no matter what life throws as you, you can take it! So, choose confidence everyday, in as many situations that you can. You will being to see an immediate difference and eventually it will become second nature!

Haters gonna hate

As someone who has been putting their writing, thoughts, and creative energy out onto the internet for years, it took me a surprisingly long time to understand this one! Whenever I would hear the phrase “Haters Gonna Hate” I would immediately ask “What does that even mean?” Well, I think I am finally beginning to understand. It is a true universally acknowledged that in life, there are some people who only spread hate and negativity. Now, these people may be very blatant about it, and hate everyone and everything equally and with sincere fervor, or these people may be very cunning about it, wrapping up their negativity in a sweet little package that looks so tempting you may actually want to buy into what they are saying. But the thing is, these people and their opinions (especially if the opinions are opposing you) do not matter. Why? Because their will always be people in the world who don’t agree with you. Even if you are the most innocent, non controversial being on the planet, some people will find something to dislike about you. Just ignore them, it is in their nature and you can’t stop it, nor can you change them or counter them in any way.

You can’t please everyone

Hands down, this has been the hardest lesson for me to learn and sometimes I still feel like I am learning how to live with it. It may be the most popular cliche ever, but its true, you can’t please everyone. Now, this is due to several factors, usually surrounding the fact that people come from different backgrounds and were taught to value completely different things. The most complicated element of this cliche, however, is not just that people are different, but that when you boil it down, people can have completely opposite view points and can still be correct. In life, there is no cut and dry right or wrong most of the time, and because of this, it is inevitable that you won’t be able to please everyone. The quicker you learn this, the less hurt you will be when people disagree with you, the less time you will waste trying to change people’s minds and the less effort you will spend trying to tailor your life and your choices to fit the opinions of others.

Now it’s time for you to tell me which cliche lessons hold the most truth for you! Let me know in the comments below or send me a tweet! I’d love to get your insight and perhaps even learn something new myself! 

xoxo,