10 Great Pieces of Advice I Received from Simply Asking

I once overheard a friend say, “You’d be surprised what you can get in life if you just ask.”

In the summer of 2016, I took his advice to heart and asked people from New York to Jordan to impart whatever words of wisdom they’d stumbled upon.

Here’s what they said:

• “When you’re in a rush you have to do things extra slowly.” — Antonio, 25, student, New York City

• “The courage to be happy is profound.” — Kristin, 38, New Jersey

• “Getting out of my own way. I will set a timer for 10 minutes and just free write. Whatever comes to mind and let your head clear out. Write on paper and let it flow.”  — Eric, 26, Artist, Oakland, California

• “Don’t stop. It’s the one I use most frequently these days.” — Yusef, 41, playwright, Houston, Texas

• “In short, the punch line is that, ‘Sometimes life sucks. And that’s okay.’ I think that if we allow ourselves to know that life is about expansion and contractions, inhalations and exhalations, we can realize that nothing is permanent and everything is ALWAYS in transition. Consequently, there is no need to feel like there is something wrong with us whenever we happen to find ourselves in one of those contracted, dark and deep, sucky places in life.”  — Jessica, 34, dancer, Denver, Colorado

• “Where you are is not where you were.” — Noah, 30, journalist, Detroit, Michigan

• “My father told me, you can’t quit anything until you’ve done if for at least 10 years.”  — Andy, 53, actor, London, England

• “To answer your question, I tend to never give up no matter how simple or hard and frustrating things are for me, and once my dad told me something that I can maybe translate into- Effort won’t betray you. Now, when I need a confirmation that my effort won’t go in vain I remember that.” — Leijla, 21, student, Sarajevo, Bosnia

• “So the philosophy I’m trying to live by is: Always have faith in life — the places it takes you, the challenges you have to face, and people that influence you one way or the other. Even when life is scary and makes you sad. Especially then. — Lana, 20s, waitress, Ljublana, Slovenia

• “Don’t judge people. Take them like they are. Of course be careful, but it’s wonderful when you try to do this.   — Jergus, 20s, Ljublana, Slovenia

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