Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
"You live and you learn" — can't really argue with that one. And while the older we get, the more knowledge we acquire, some lessons just manage to get past us for way too long. But there's no shame in learning anything at any age! (Well, maybe a little).
One Reddit user wanted to know what people learned just recently that they should've already known years ago. The answers varied from silly to serious, with some people dipping deep into self-discovery, which could've saved them a lot of tears and confusion in the past. From Froot Loops all being the same flavor to mourning relationships with your friends, folks were eager to share their newfound knowledge with others.
Bored Panda selected the most interesting answers for this list, so scroll down, and maybe you'll also learn something new today. After all, we're not aware that we don't know something, until we learn of its existence. Don't forget to upvote your favorites, and if there's anything you learned 'too late' in life that you think others might not know about yet, be sure to share it in the comments!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
« Everything worth doing is worth doing half-a*s ». You can do a part of something it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You can clean a room and not the whole house. You can eat a salad with your burger. We have a tendency to be « everything has to be done 110% » or it’s not worth it. I think about people who laugh at people taking a diet soda with a burger: well why the hell not? You don’t have to be all in 100% and that makes the pressure more bearable sometimes!
#2
Friend breakups can hurt just as much, if not more, than romantic ones.
#3
Quality matters more than quantity when it comes to friends.
I started to notice that most of my friends weren’t really my friends, only drinking buddies, and it hindered my process of getting sober for awhile. i didn’t want to lose them. but then i realized that if they couldn’t be with me in my sobriety journey, they couldn’t be in my life at all.
I’m 67 days into cutting back, and twelve days into not touching alcohol at all. my life is better without those people. i only have three friends now but it’s worth it. the support and encouragement i get from them outweighs the sadness of losing everyone else.
Minnie Not Mouse 1 year ago
I send hugs! I have alot of friends, but few very close ones. I am glad you cut the negative people out of your life!
#4
It's better to be alone than in an unfulfilling/abusive relationship.
Don't continue dating someone if you constantly think "give it time, things might get better". That puts you in a never ending loop that becomes more difficult to get out of as time goes on.
General Anaesthesia 1 year ago
Contrary to what you may hope, generally people don't change. So get out before the going gets really bad.
#5
I didn’t learn it recently but I learned it earlier in life, don’t share stuff with your coworkers. Just mind your own business.
#7
Other women know how to clasp their bra behind their back. As a teen I learned to clasp it in front of me then twist it around awkwardly... and then never stopped doing that
Minnie Not Mouse 1 year ago
I can somewhat do it from the back, but I put it on front, then shift it around and put on the straps! Easy-Peasy!
#8
Doves are literally just white pigeons.
Not similar, or related to, the exact same bird.
Pigeons with white privilege
#10
Don't compare yourself with someone else. You are not them and you do not have their abilities or weaknesses. Use your yardstick on you. Compare yourself in terms of how you have done in the past. It is more accurate. And be kind to yourself if you are making strides and mistakes.
#11
Not recently, but I learned that being your own friend is one of the best things you can do for yourself. The only time in my life I started making friends was when I started being my own friend first, taking care of my health, going to the gym, taking myself out, exploring on my own, and learning on my own. Not only did it help me make friends, but it also helped me feel less lonely, as I really started enjoying my own company! I became an interesting person to be
#13
That the morning after pill has weight restrictions and if you are over a certain weight they will probably not work on you.
Also, more women and children get killed in car accidents because the airbag is not meant for women, it is made for a man.
Products made by men does not always work on women. Just saying.
Minnie Not Mouse 1 year ago
I read somewhere, I think on bored-panda, that they finally used a female crash test dummy, and got highly different results.
#14
That if I am unfulfilled as an individual my partner will never be able to fulfill me either. Similar to if you don’t love yourself you can’t unconditionally love others.
Anon Ymous 1 year ago
I never really vibed with the idea that you have to love yourself first to love others. To me it plants the idea that we are unworthy of love because of our own struggle. Allow yourself to love others and to receive their love in return while you are still working on loving yourself ❤️
#15
A consistent sleep schedule and plenty of sleep every night actually works. It won’t cure your depression/chronic illness/various maladies, but it makes it much easier to face them in the morning. And when I say morning, I mean it: even if you’re semi-nocturnal like me, it is so much easier to get important stuff done during the day.
This is the most annoying realisation I’ve had all year, but brains simply work better when they are rested and refreshed.
#16
Exercising does actually feel good and it’s not just pretentious claims made by fit af influencers!
#17
Tall, white, loud men get more respect than anyone, no matter how stupid they are.
#18
Replace your pillows every 1–2 years. Lots of mold and allergens get stuck in there. I finally stopped feeling sick when I changed them out.
#19
That cows only produce milk after they've had a baby. Farmers forcibly impregnate them and take their calves away so they can sell the milk to humans. I always thought they just made milk all the time, which seems stupid in retrospect.
Snorky The Pig 1 year ago
My grandparents run a small dairy farm, and they do not forcibly impregnate their cows or take the calves away. Unfortunately, the reason many other farms don't follow their method is capitalism and the fervent obsession with making money. There are humane ways to get milk, and it is very unfortunate that it is not the mainstream. We need to remember that cows (and all other animals) are also sentient beings who deserve as much love, respect and gentleness as we do.
#21
If you're going to take inappropriate selfies, disable the photo sync to your mom's icloud first.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
Or don't take "inappropriate" selfies. Never could understand that trend.
#22
I recently started dating someone about a week and a half ago and he seems so healthy. Everything he says is with intention and it seems so out of this world to me. I've had so many bad relationships and friendships and people just mistreating me that I almost don't know what to do with myself.
I learned that it's okay to trust what someone is saying and forgiving people that hurt you in the past (WITHOUT giving them too much energy, aka. Having to look past them, etc.) Is so healing. I hope this relationship really is healthy and I'm hoping for a better future with him by my side. Yes I know this is super early but I finally understand the phrase. "When you know, you know" I'm 30 btw.
Judy Reynolds 1 year ago
Even if the relationship doesn't work out, these are valuable insights!!
#23
What getting tires rotated actually means.
Also that the line in Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire" is "trouble in the Suez" not "trouble in the sewers."
#25
How to budget my money.... I've cycled in and out of debt for years, could have been really ahead, never knew. Someone taught me and I'm blown away at how remarkably "easy" it is now that I know.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 1 year ago
I have a checking account and a savings account. I put $200 into my checking with every paycheck and the rest into savings. That $200 is all the money I allow myself to spend for two weeks apart from basic necessities like rent and bills. It's a very austere existence, but I need to make sure I have enough in savings for a rainy day.
#26
I didn’t know how much of an impact making my bed in the morning had on me.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
No, no, no. Airing the bed by pulling the covers down gives all that night-time sweat a chance to evaporate and keeps your whole bed and mattress fresher for longer.
#27
Not to mess with my birth control, the hormone unbalance was a unpleasant experience.
#28
my blood type
Lynne Bear Hugs 1 year ago
I'm AB+, so in 3% of the population. It's so nice to be 'rare' and special in one way. Lol!
#29
I thought you could only put one thing in the oven at a time.
Snorky The Pig 1 year ago (edited)
That depends. You may not want to put a chocolate cake together with a dish that has garlic or something in it. (experience lol)
#30
Babies can’t drink water before 6months old
What do you think ?
Sonja 1 year ago (edited)
That many educational institutions don't really test for knowledge, but their tests are made for those people who can best learn by heart. The questions they give you could often be answered in more than one way, and the answer you give could very well be correct and factually right, but because it's not in the syllabus or on the checking sheet, it's marked wrong. So people who understand the subject, think about their answers and give an adequate answer but have difficulties to remember the exact wording used in the book or materials, will get sorted out while people who don't really understand the topic but are epic in regurgitating the contents they've learned by heart get through swimmingly. And I'm not talking about using correct termini or technical terms, but using the right terms but answering the question in a way that's factually correct, but just not worded exactly as the teacher wanted it to be.
James Doe 1 year ago
This has wasted so much time and nerves in my life! In uni I almost failed an important examn. Worst possiböe grade without failing. I was able to get a verbal post-examn to improve the grade an aced it - including an invitation to do my thesis in their institute. Why? Because the subjust was too intersting to me to focus on the learning-for-the-test.
Load More Replies...
Miss Frankfurter 1 year ago
That’s a reason I didn’t go to university to get my bachelor’s in nursing. I want to learn what makes me an even better nurse at the bedside. That’s what I do best. I stick with that. But I get told I should go because I’m so smart. Not in the way they want me to be. I looked at the syllabus and most of it was irrelevant to what I needed to know. Then there’s the part where all your essays etc were just spitting back what you’ve read in the many text books. String a line of quotes together and put your source in a footnote. What? I don’t go to memorize. I go to learn. Apparently I’m not aloud to have an original thought in my head, or put down a result of my processing of the info (as in I really thought it out) and write it in a way the professor sees I understand the material, not just spit it back. Never went. Perfectly happy I didn’t.
Sonja 1 year ago (edited)
That many educational institutions don't really test for knowledge, but their tests are made for those people who can best learn by heart. The questions they give you could often be answered in more than one way, and the answer you give could very well be correct and factually right, but because it's not in the syllabus or on the checking sheet, it's marked wrong. So people who understand the subject, think about their answers and give an adequate answer but have difficulties to remember the exact wording used in the book or materials, will get sorted out while people who don't really understand the topic but are epic in regurgitating the contents they've learned by heart get through swimmingly. And I'm not talking about using correct termini or technical terms, but using the right terms but answering the question in a way that's factually correct, but just not worded exactly as the teacher wanted it to be.
James Doe 1 year ago
This has wasted so much time and nerves in my life! In uni I almost failed an important examn. Worst possiböe grade without failing. I was able to get a verbal post-examn to improve the grade an aced it - including an invitation to do my thesis in their institute. Why? Because the subjust was too intersting to me to focus on the learning-for-the-test.
Load More Replies... Miss Frankfurter 1 year ago
That’s a reason I didn’t go to university to get my bachelor’s in nursing. I want to learn what makes me an even better nurse at the bedside. That’s what I do best. I stick with that. But I get told I should go because I’m so smart. Not in the way they want me to be. I looked at the syllabus and most of it was irrelevant to what I needed to know. Then there’s the part where all your essays etc were just spitting back what you’ve read in the many text books. String a line of quotes together and put your source in a footnote. What? I don’t go to memorize. I go to learn. Apparently I’m not aloud to have an original thought in my head, or put down a result of my processing of the info (as in I really thought it out) and write it in a way the professor sees I understand the material, not just spit it back. Never went. Perfectly happy I didn’t.
Related on Bored Panda
