Some things that I have learned I have been taught. Like how to ride a bike, and how to make my bed. When I started learning how to do these things, I was not very confident. In the case of riding my bike, well, I fell down a lot. Turning was a big problem for me. I would turn the handlebars, but I was always afraid to turn them too much in case the bike toppled over and I would fall. My huge turning radius would cause a scene anywhere other than an empty parking lot, but I did not care. I did not like falling, and this fear helped me to ascertain the best way for me to remain on my bike. I learned that a little fear is a great motivator, and not to care what people may think so long as you keep your head upright.
When it came to making my bed, I did not really understand the point. I nagged at my mother a lot; after all, I would be sleeping in the bed again very soon. I would sometimes cheat and not smooth out the sheets underneath. Sometimes I would leave them intentionally crooked just to be spiteful. I would have to work harder to hide the imperfections’ with the comforter and the pillows. This was time consuming, and pretty soon the novelty of sticking it to my mother wore off. I learned that doing things the right way the first time saved more time. In addition I learned to appreciate a freshly made bed.
Some things I had to learn on my own through trial and error. Asking a woman when she is due, even though she looks extraordinarily pregnant, is never a good idea. Never ever. I learned that sometimes your first impressions of a person, even though you are absolutely sure, can be misleading. My assumptions lead to hurt feelings, embarrassment on both sides, and a very awkward silence. I apologized, and it did not fix it the situation. I learned that sometimes sorry is not good enough, and that some situations just need time.
When I was younger I had made a friend in the condo complex that I grew up in. He lived below me, and every day after elementary school we would rush home, throw down our school baggage, and be off. I really liked him, and he really like me. He made me laugh, and he was mindful to play games that I liked best even if they weren’t his favorite. We were going to be friends forever. We would ride our rollerblades around the neighborhood and look at houses that we would one day move into. He was one year behind me, and eventually I moved onto high school leaving him in eighth grade.
We were still friends, but I was busy doing high school things and making new high school friends. I am not sure what all he was doing that year, since we had started to drift apart. I would think about him now and again, and get a little sad, but I never did anything to fix it. There were a lot of different things I could have done to fix it. Then, one day, he died. Death is stupid. You cannot change the end result; there is no coming back from being dead. I learned that it is better to say what you mean to those you care about when they are here then to go on living knowing that you squandered away the opportunity.
And the last life lesson that I have learned is quite simple. When engaging in extracurricular activities with your significant other take the time to make sure the window in the bedroom is closed. I learned that though the applause from the direct tv guys outside is one hell of a confidence booster, it can be a tad embarrassing.
