I’m not sure where this originated, but it arrived in my inbox the other day. I usually don’t pass along these “forward-this-to-the-whole-world” kind of emails, but after a quick read-through I knew this was something worth sharing.
It’s mainly aimed at young students who haven’t graduated yet, but I found many of its points very applicable to those of us who have moved beyond “higher education” and into real education (a.k.a. life).
Rule #1
Life is not fair. Get used to it.
Rule #2
The world doesn’t care about your self esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
Rule #3
You will not make $60,000 a year right out of school. You won’t be successful until you’ve earned it. (And you don’t earn it in school.)
Rule #4
If you think your teacher is tough, just wait until you get a boss.
Rule #5
Flipping burgers is NOT beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger-flipping: they called it “opportunity”.
Rule #6
If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault. So don’t whine about your mistakes. Learn from them.
Rule #7
Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forests from the parasites of your parent’s generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule #8
Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many chances as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
Rule #9
Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you “find yourself”. Do that on your own time.
Rule #10
Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.