Things Nobody Told You

Have you seen those funny memes on Facebook? Things nobody old me about adulthood…that boxes would become my obsession, that 99% of adulthood is deleting emails, or that adulthood is like looking both ways before crossing the street and being hit by an airplane. Wry humor keeps us going, doesn’t it?

               Here are a few you may not have on your radar. Alex Noriega of Stuff Nobody Told Me is a Spanish illustrator who inspires many of us. I love the concept of choosing to be happy. Many of us face challenges and we can avoid being overwhelmed by them as we focus on what brings us joy. Happiness is a choice. I love the realization that no job is perfect, that annoying people exist as surely as those who inspire us. What nobody told you: choose to be joyful no matter your situation.

               It’s important to realize that life is not and never will be perfect. Diana Thomas, an accountant at Kentucky Fried Chicken, is credited with this piece of wisdom: “Much of our modern wonders and infrastructure is held together with ducktape and bubblegum.” You know, she may be onto something here!

                  Have you ever been on the Underground Tour of Seattle? Early pioneers made a killing in lumber. Huge logs were cut and brought to loading docks, cut up to appropriate lengths on the shoreline and stowed as cargo. Sawdust firmed up the marshy soil and Seattle grew from the humble beginning. Years later that sawdust base began to sink.

               To this day a section of the underground Seattle props up Pioneer Square and the central part of the city. Take the tour and look up through the same glass skylights used before the city was rebuilt on top of its original base. (As a point of human interest—or not—derelicts used to congregate below those skylights to peek up women’s dresses on the sidewalks overhead. I know, it may be TMI, but these interesting facts amuse me.) What nobody told you: Imagination and ingenuity are the basis of creative genius. Think outside the box and you will do amazing things.

               Ten things No Ond Told Me, by Duaa Rana, includes this gem—Don’t try to fit in. Huge, people. Huge. Find your tribe. Walk your own path. Some will never appreciate you, and that’s okay. In this homogenized world conformity or rebellion form two opposing poles. Many try to be one of the crowd, and then there are some who flaunt their individuality to the max, but those who tread a sure path are neither. The sure-footed are those who simply know themselves, find their place and ignore the hubbub around them. What nobody told you: It’s okay to be you.

               These little truisms seem pretty basic, but they form the underpinning of business as well. Tess Robinson in Smack Bang Designs shared 20 things business owners have learned the hard way.

·        There will be moments of severe burnout.

·        Email will actually rule your life.

·        You will need more than 24 hours a day.

·        Coffee won’t cut it.

·        You’ll never reach the finish line.

               I’ll let you look her up and read the rest…but I want to end with one of her truisms: The rollercoaster never ends. If you are running a business, you wear many hats and ideas germinate with your morning coffee. Your to do list spills over into the next day. It feels like you live in a perpetual feast or famine dystopian landscape in which you either have free time or find yourself drowning in commitments. But who doesn’t love a good ride at the amusement park? Life is the best ride of all!