No One Ever Told Me…

The older I get, the more I realise that life is a consecutive series of seemingly unexpected and unpredictable events that must be overcome. The randomness of these occurrences means that you are often unprepared emotionally, mentally, physically or financially for any number of life’s crazy curveballs.

That said, I have discovered that many of the disconcerting things I have experienced over the decades are by no means unique to me - in fact, to some degree, the same experiences have been survived by almost everyone who has lived through their 20s, 30s, or 40s. This awareness recently led me to ask myself, why did no one ever tell me it would be like this?! Why was I left to discover such joys or disappointments by chance?

Surely, I thought to myself, I can’t be the only one who wishes they had been given fair forewarning of some of life’s difficulties! So, I decided to test my theory by conducting a Vox Populi - what is it that people have learned that they wished someone would have told them about sooner?

Below are a combination of my own thoughts and some random responses I collected over the course of the last week while out and about across Sydney.

No one ever told me…

…women speak a different language to men.

…that hormones will f*ck you up.

…I would not meet the love of my life.

…I would have to wait 4 years before I could see my family.

…where the new cloak room was.

…friends come and go, and that’s ok even if it hurts at the time.

…my body will do whatever it wants no matter how many diets I go on.

…both political parties take so much money in donations.

…there would be days like this.

…to.

…why.

…about danger wank.

…to be your own everything; anything else is a bonus.

…that you’re only ever as happy as your unhappiest child.

…what the aging female body goes through.

…to be prepared for things to change.

…I would go from age 27 to age 60 in an afternoon.

…that I would be lonely.

…it was possible to bleed so much and still be standing.

…realizing a dream will not necessarily make you happy.

…that mammograms hurt so much.

…kissing is cheating.

…that divorce would be so empowering.

…aging is a losing battle.

…it never gets easier.

…love can be wrong.

The list, I have no doubt, is endless. How would YOU complete the phrase “No one ever told me…”?