7 things that are important

I'm still young, but it's often remarked that I'm wise beyond my years. I don't know how much credibility that has but it doesn't stop me from making this list of things that I think are the most important in life and why.

1. Keeping your sense of humour

Laughter always makes me feel happier, no matter the situation or moment. Laughter can come in all forms. I enjoy laughing with friends, family and myself. It's something everyone can find joy in and never fails to make me feel right again. So from this I feel it's important to always be able to laugh about things even in the worst situations you can ever find yourself in, because of the effect laughter can have on our demeanor and perspective.

2. Friends
Spending time with friends is something I've come to realize is important, especially for someone like me who is quite an ambivert - I do enjoy my own company but I also need the company of others from time to time and I can speak to just about anyone, but that doesn't mean they'll be my automatic best friend. I have lost a few friends due to lack of communication but I've made many other new ones from their absence. Friendship is something all humans want, even if they only have a close circle. Being social is important.

3. Family
Especially parents, family is something that I think few people really appreciate. Friends are family you can choose, but friends are not guaranteed to always be there for you. Family is something you'll always have. And parents do a lot for us that we don't really always appreciate. They sacrifice a lot for us and rarely really get as much back as they give. And for that I think family is very important to spend time with, because as we grow up we spend less time with them, until we reach an age where we appreciate what they are and what they do for us, but we have so many other commitments that time that could be spent with them is taken up by other things.

4. Health
Teeth, body, brain... we are constantly told in the modern world to clean our teeth, chew gum, floss, watch what we eat, exercise, do Sudoku puzzles etc etc. But it's true, I do believe that health is something people should keep. Of course there are plenty of things that we can do which are small things but keep our health. It's not as though we need to go overboard, but constantly indulging in things which too much of can be bad for our health isn't the way forward. We all enjoy chocolate now and again, but I'm sure no one who is obese enjoys being that way. Mental health is also something to remember to keep - and keeping our sense of humour as mentioned, I believe can be a big help to remaining happy and keeping a sense of self.

5. Self happiness and self
Keeping ourselves happy is important, but in pursuing this we mustn't lose our sense of self in the process. I think there's a fine balance between the two - because happiness can be gained from all sorts of things - money, drugs and other material pleasures, but what really makes us truly happy are other things such as doing what's right, helping others, etc. and those things are the ones that remind us who we are too, instead of indulging in pleasures that do not truly give us proper happiness and instead just blind us from ourselves.

6. Learning
Ignorance is such a plague in the world, and so I think it's important to always keep an open mind, always be learning new things, get to know things about the world and learn things like details about places that hardly anyone knows. It's a refreshing exercise of the mind and experience. But we shouldn't use our knowledge to be better than other people, we should use it to better them and to share and keep our horizons broad.

7. Time
We should really make the most of our time, because as we get older we realize how little time we really are given to enjoy and do whatever we choose to do here during our lives. I'm almost 20 years old - infact I will be next year, and that thought is quite daunting to me at the moment. Twenty is a big number, a lot of years, and in exactly the same amount of time I've already had I'll be middle aged - 40. It really puts time into perspective and how important it is, how it is one of the very precious resources we have.