People Share The Most Important Lesson They Learned From Their Parents

Not One Thing.

You cannot allow one aspect of your life to define you, no matter how important that aspect is.

If you let your job become who you are, or your politics become who you are, or any one piece of your life supersede all else, it is a short trip to an identity crisis.

Allow yourself to be varied. It's fine to have a central focus, but be sure to allow some portions of your life that are entirely separate from it. ligamentary

Justice/Fairness....

"You can screw up a lot of different ways with a kid, but the absolute most important thing is that they always feel loved." Sandvick

I'll add to this, your kids often need different things to feel loved: Your entire focus, Play, affection, Food & Gifts/Material things. One kid might be a hugger and the other needs you to listen to a a detailed re-cap of their video game boss-kill.

But you have more than one - clear displays and acknowledgement of Justice/Fairness is the most important way to show you love each of them. Without fairness you are telling one kid they are lesser. Your kids might need and want different things, but on the whole, making sure things are reasonably equitable/fair is one of the most loving things you can do as a parent. dainty_flower

The Flirt. 

If someone flirts with you, and you don't like them back, say no. A good person will accept that no and move on. If they don't, feel free to create a scene, get help, or what ever you need to do to feel safe.

And that they will have my back. Always.

There was a case when I was in my late teens when a friend mine started bringing his friend around to hang out. Guy was a douche, leered at the girls and insulted the guys.

So we, told him he was not welcome. (but our friend still was, as long as he left the other guy out of it). Dude keeps trying to come over to my house, follows my girlfriends and cat calls them, sh!t like that. My mom AND dad went out the front door to where this guy was idling his car and told him that he was not welcome in our house or on our property, just as their daughter had said, and if he did not wish to comply with this, police would be called. Never saw that fool again. FlutterByCookies

Bye Blood....

That family isn't always blood and it's okay to walk away from them for your own mental health. mperfectphoto

If only they didn't ruin my life and left me unable to fend for myself. Currently severely injured, jobless, broke and depending on the good will of my parents to be able to live.

I don't want to live this pathetic existence. mike117

Be All In. 

A solid work ethic is more valuable than pure intelligence. andcat789

I really like this bit of advice. I was one of those kids who could easily ace every test in middle school, and I didn't spend a minute studying. Then I started high school, took a bunch of advanced courses, and got sh!t on because I had no idea what studying even was. I didn't even know about the very concept of studying. r34_content_creator

Work and a Smile.

Hard work without likability gets you a hard earned paycheck. Likability without hard work gets you an easy paycheck. But hard work with likability gets you a promotion. CRRT93

Positive Only. 

Some advice I read somewhere was to not make the thoughts appear from your head/mouth/face. As stupid as it might seem you can actually make it seem like your thoughts are voicing itself from other parts of your body, and moving it elsewhere kinda helps suppress them. Whenever I get negative thought I move it to my butt. poopellar

A Good Leader. 

When I got my first management job my dad gave me 2 pieces of advice.

"You serve at the will of your subordinates. Treat them well and you will all succeed."

"Your employees' success is theirs. Their failure is yours." HoopOnPoop

It's Not Just You. 

Consider others feelings. Don't dump your crap on them, because (a) it's your crap not their's- take ownership and don't pass the blame, and (b) you don't know what kind of crap they could be dealing with. If you just pass it onto them they will just throw it back at you with more crap and can make you feel worse. You won't grow as a person always blaming others and you could potentially damage your relationship with someone or at the very least piss someone off. Lightmareman

Thanks Pops.

My old man had so many things that I still think back on and tell my kids.

A few that stick with me are:

When you get tired, learn to rest, not quit.

There's no nobility in being better than someone else. Nobility is being better than a past self. TacoDoc