10 life lessons we learn too late
By
Jay Bazzinotti
Published: Jan 13, 2017 6:07 a.m. ET
16
Thoughts on sex, jealousy, and money
Getty Images
Pianist and singer Irving Fields, 98, is presented a birthday cake by Nino Selimaj at Nino's Tuscany Steakhouse in Midtown where Fields appears six nights a week. Fields celebrated his 98th birthday with cake and friends at the restaurant which sits next to his longtime apartment. Performing in New York since 1922, Fields is one of the world's oldest lounge singers. Part of his advice on longevity is eating well and enjoying the occasional three-olive martini.
This article is reprinted by permission from
NextAvenue.org.
Last year, a user on the crowdsourced question-and-answer website Quora.com asked, “What are the lessons people most often learn too late in life?” Jay Bazzinotti wrote the following response.
What are the lessons people often learn too late in life?
1. Time passes much more quickly than you realize.
2. If you don’t take care of your body early then it won’t take care of you later. Your world becomes smaller each day as you lose mobility, continence and sight.
Money talks. It says “Goodbye.”
3. Sex and beauty may fade, but intimacy and friendship only grow.
4. People are far more important than any other thing in your life. No hobby, interest, book, work is going to be as important to you as the people you spend time with as you get older.
5. Money talks. It says “Goodbye.” If you don’t plan your finances for later in life, you’ll wish you had.
6. Any seeds you planted in the past, either good or bad, will begin to bear fruit and affect the quality of your life as you get older — for better or worse.
7. Jealousy is a wasted emotion. People you hate are going to succeed. People you like are going to sometimes do better than you did. Kids are going to be smarter and quicker than you are. Accept it with grace.
8. That big house you had to have becomes a bigger and bigger burden, even as the mortgage gets smaller. The cleaning, the maintenance, the stairs — all of it. Don’t let your possessions own you.
9. You will badly regret the things you didn’t do far more than the things you did that were “wrong” — the girl you didn’t kiss, the trip you didn’t take, the project you kept putting off, the time you could have helped someone. If you get the chance — do it. You may never get the chance again.
10. Every day you wake up is a victory.
Bonus: It’s never too late to become what you wanted to be or might have been if you start now.
Jay Bazzinotti is a computer networking expert who has worked with some of the world’s top tech companies. He’s also a regularly
featured user of the community question-and-answer site Quora.
