18 life lessons from strangers and friends that keep my warm like a quilt

We are made of parts we take from every single person we ever encountered, no matter how brief our interaction with them might have been. I see myself as a quilt, a patchwork of all the people that have come into my life and woven their traits to me. Here is a non-exhaustive list of life lessons that keep me warm and help me make my way through life with a little more love.

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Write down every single thing that matters to you, whether it be a compliment, a nice afternoon you know you’ll want to remember, something a friend said that made you burst with laughter, the song concept that woke you up at 3am… because you will forget. 

by: my failing memory 

It has been done before, but it has not been done by you. 

by: a stranger on Instagram

The game is not over until the referee blows their whistle. No matter how slim it is, you always have a chance to win. 

by: my mom

No love is ever wasted if you love with all your heart and all your might.

by: my best friends

If you have a day when you feel like your life does not fulfill you, go near a body of water. In the same vein, when you feel like life is not worth living, get out of your couch/your bed/ your apartment, and go take a walk/a shower. 

by: the sunday walks I took along the seashore when my life was at its lowest point

If you hesitate when making a decision, always think of what the child version of you would have picked. That’s the direction you must go with, because it’s the one that resonates the most with your true self. Your inner child knows you the best. 

by: primary-school me

Your body is not the most interesting thing about you. 

by: a random content creator in a tiktok I watched 5 years ago

When you’re on the street, do not pat your wallet to make sure it is still there, because you are actually telling thieves where you keep it.

by: Six of Crows

If your pen does not seem to be working, blow hot air on it. 

by: my kindergarten best friend

Always send postcards to your friends and your grandparents, wherever you go. 

by: my mom, who encouraged me to do this ever since I was 2 

It all comes down to love – or to the lack of it. 

by: life itself

Life is not about who you want to become, but what you want to be doing every day. Your life is how you spend your days. Do not wait for it to magically start being perfect, because you will be waiting forever. 

by: an epiphany I had while gazing at the stars

Spending money on experiences is way better than purchasing material things. 

by: all the concerts I went to

You will love your family the most when you are away from them. 

by: two-weeks-long vacations I was looking forward to for months and then turned out to be actual hell

Say the positive thing you think about that person. 

by: the large smile a little girl gave me when I told her I liked her shoes

You can’t force someone to stay if they don’t want to. 

by: my dad

Be bold and ask for what you want. You might just get it. 

by: my best friend who gets everything he sets his mind to

Take the risk. Just picture yourself as an old person sitting on their couch and pondering on what their life was, not what it could have been. Then do that thing you are so scared of. 

by: my grandmother

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Malou