Advice comes from anywhere and everywhere: our best friends, our moms, that overbearing cousin, TV shows and girly magazines. When you want to be your own person and make your own choices, it can be tough to drown out all the mixed messages. Sometimes, though, it’s the cliché pieces of advice plastered on a greeting card or decorative pillow in a cute décor store that actually make the most sense. Here are 10 pieces of super cliché advice that can actually help you:
- Everything happens for a reason. Sure, we may groan when we hear this for the thousandth time, but that doesn’t make it any less true. What’s so awesome about this cliché is that it can apply to any situation under the sun. Got dumped? He was probably a jerk and you’ll realize it later on. Got fired? You’re just moments away from your dream job or a much happier career. I’ve always found this particular piece of advice pretty comforting.
- If it’s not OK, it’s not the end. It can be super difficult to understand this when we’re in the midst of a personal crisis or drama. Characters in almost every single movie talk about how things will always be okay in the end, and it’s so hard to resist rolling your eyes. This is the kind of platitude that you believe when you do reach the end of whatever you’re facing – when you wake up one morning and realize you’re happy again after a rough patch, or you’ve finally gotten over that one ex-boyfriend.
- Follow your heart. Ugh. Isn’t this one the absolute worst? Except… maybe not. I hate to admit it, but it’s usually the best lesson you can ever learn. Think about it: would you rather follow what other people want from you or your own dreams and personal truth? Whose life would you rather live, your own or the one your parents wanted for you? The answer is pretty obvious, right?
- Time heals everything. People say this when you’re seriously hurting, usually after a bad break-up or the death of a close loved one. It’s the kind of thing that you never want to hear but realize months or even years later that it’s totally true.
- Be yourself. This one always makes me laugh, because who else would you be? Yet this can be so tricky in a world that wants women to look and act a certain way. We’re all supposed to want the white-picket fence and business-savvy husband and the four children and the desire to cook three square meals a day for our family. Sure, you might want that eventually, and you might find a way to find true meaning and happiness every day. But if that’s just not you, don’t be ashamed of it. It’s actually pretty awesome that there’s a cliché that allows us to be who we really are.
- Fake it until you make it. This is the only way to live. The alternative isn’t all that attractive – who wants to make it super clear to their new boss that they have no idea what they’re doing? Be the strong, independent woman that you are and act like you totally know what’s going on. Eventually, you will.
- When you find love, you’ll just know. Groan-inducing, yes. Still true, yes.
- Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. You resign yourself to the fact that you’re never going to meet another good guy… and then have the best date ever the next day. You think your career is moving in one direction… and then your old boss calls with an exciting job offer. You think you’ll stay in your city forever… and then decide you need a change. We never know what’s going to happen to us or what kind of choices we’re going to make. We can call ourselves super organized but it’s like the universe is laughing at us, daring us to make plans, because they’re only going to be broken.
- If life gives you lemons, make lemonades. I love these kind of people, the “silver lining” people who never whine, never complain, never think what’s going on is unfixable. We should all be like them, always seeing the good and realizing how completely fortunate we are.
- Everyone is a unique snowflake. I know, I know. This one is pretty awful. But isn’t it better than saying that we’re all exactly the same? How completely boring would that be?
