I'm glad that you had the back up, but I'm sorry that it is necessary for you to have to use it, samkaren.

My DH taught me the lifesaving technique of adjusting my expectations. I used to beat my head against the wall expecting people to act or react a certain way in certain situations. He pointed out how ridiculous it was to expect people to act differently than you know they are capable of. Game changer.

From reading David Copperfield. Mr. Micawber says:

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] nineteen [shillings] and six [pence], result - happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result - misery."

Advice given to my husband, when he was just starting his home repair business. The contractor who lived next door to my dad told my husband, "always be on time, do what you say you'll do, and charge a fair price." This advice served him extremely well, and he had an excellent reputation for being reliable.

Best advice I got was from my FIL when I was a teen and facing college major/career decisions. I asked him how do you know ahead of time what you want do for a living? He said, it doesn't matter what you're doing, but always be the best you can be at it. Someone is always watching and doors will open for you. I followed that advice and I've never once had to look for work...work always came looking for me.

I knew as a teenager that I didn't want kids. It was affirmed the older I got.

When I got married, I told mom I wanted to get my tubes tied and she was all for it. She knew that I wasn't mom-material, and unlike so many others who said "you'll love them once you have them" she told me to follow my gut.

My then-husband was in agreement as well, so I got my tubes tied when I was 22.....not an easy feat at all, finding a doctor back then who would do it, as I was so young, with no kids.

Focus on the goal, not the obstacles.

From my Dad, when in doubt, do nothing.

I don't know if it was the best advice but one that remained indelibly printed on my brain. When I was in grade school, we had these autograph books......remember them old folks out there? My best friends mother signed it for me and this is what she wrote, "Never to your friends your secrets tell, for if your friend becomes a foe, the whole world your secrets know" Even as a preteen, it made quite an impression on me. I'm a very tight lipped person. Not only with my secrets, but with friends even if we are no longer friends.

I don't recall any advice...I am sure there was some, but I guess I didn't listen. The best advice I ever gave myself was to not get in a hurry to have a baby. Make sure you have a good relationship and can afford it. I waited 15 years and for me, that was good advice. I am sure I was a better mother at 34 than I would have been at 19, when I got married.

I was told to trust my instincts and that I have good ones. It's true - when I do I make very good decisions; when I doubt them, not so much. I've learned to trust them.

Always listen to your inner voice. If it tells you something is wrong for you or dangerous, don't do it. I guess I was being told not to yield to peer pressure, use my common sense and stand up for myself.

Two bits of advice that worked well. "You will know when it is the right time for you to retire." "Be flexible because what you start your career doing may not be what your end career is.

A good piece of advice posted here at the KT: You don't have to attend every fight you're invited to.

From my Dad: "It's only money, honey". Still makes me smile to think of him saying that. So many times I thought "that's easy for you to say"! But now I understand the wisdom in that--don't sweat the small stuff and money isn't everything!

Don't know where I read it or heard it but the best advice that I always try to follow is live everyday like it is your last. It is so all-encompassing - attitude, goals, career, personal interactions, activities, etc., - that it is hard to go wrong with that in mind.

My mother had five marriages. She once told me, "You can love somebody enough to marry him. But you have to LIKE him to live with him. Because otherwise he'll end up just being irritating."

She was right. Been happily married for 45 yrs now.

From my dad:don't be afraid to stand up for what you believe

From my mom: Follow the golden rule.

"Never marry a salesman."

I guess I have to thank myself for the best advice. When DH and I were young and stupid we lived paycheck to paycheck. Then DH started working a lot of overtime (construction) and he started using credit cards to get the "things that he wanted". Since I wasn't working and was trying to stay home with our son at least until he was school age I had nothing to say about our financial situation. One day I went into the checkbook and the stack of bills and started doing some simple math. When DH came home I told him that after the bills were paid each week we had exactly one dollar to our names. He was dumbfounded. He cut up the credit cards, we gradually paid the balances off with his overtime pay and we did without until we could save enough to pay cash. And then I started working and we started saving so that we had some back-up - we didn't have much and didn't do much but we had enough to keep us going for a minimum of a few months. So from then on, whenever there was overtime pay he saved it instead of squandering it. And to this day he warns the guys that he oversees that overtime doesn't last forever and that they should use it to build up a savings. Whether they listen or not is not known.

‘When you come to a fork in the road, take it’. A mentor of mine early in my career told me to never be afraid to make a considered, educated decision. He advised me to not let one sit around too long. This quote is attributed to Yogi Berra, although I didn’t know that at the time. I have passed it along to many. I always hated it when people were paralyzed by decision making....analysis paralysis is what we jokingly called it.

Many so called quotes from Berra are probably not all properly attributed but many are worth a smirk or a grimace. Fork in the road is a favorite of mine. Others I like;

It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future.

It's like deja vu all over again.

Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.

It ain't over 'till it's over.

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

From my Dad - always be on time. To not be shows a lack of respect for those who you keep waiting.

As my college graduation was approaching, one day when talking to my mother on the phone philosophically about life as an adult, she said to me something to the effect of "I have no special advice for you, you don't need any. Just this - use your head. Think enough but not too much before making decisions and then be responsible for the consequences of your choices". I thought that was pretty good, it was how she conducted herself.

More an approach to life than specific advice. I passed along the same thoughts to each of my kids when appropriate. None really needed it other than as a reminder of what they were already doing. luckily all are level headed and responsible.

From my father. A gift at a very early age.

Never say or write anything that you wouldn't want to see spread across the front page of the local newspaper the next day.

Sounds kinda inconsequential until you listen to your own thoughts and words. And...it sure makes one very considerate of the next guy. Kindness reigns.

Don’t sweat the small stuff!

I really lived by that when I had 4 teenagers.

Great post Samkaren!

My dad taught me that one should never owe money unless they are making money with the money that they owe. My mom taught me that when you are running late, people pass the time by counting your faults.

My mom taught me that when you are running late, people pass the time by counting your faults.

That is great. I'm a chronically early person, and people who are consistently late drive me up the wall. I have a close friend I've known since high school; when we were growing up we lived around the corner from each other. When we were going to meet, I learned to tell her to be at that corner at least 20 minutes earlier than was necessary, and even then I sometimes had to wait. Drove me crazy, but she's still a good friend, perhaps because we now live in different states and only see each other once or twice a year!

My mother taught me that, Punctuality is the courtesy of kings. The adage had no effect on me as a youth, but once I was out of school, the penny dropped and I understood how unbelievably rude it is to keep people waiting.

Maybe if she had told me people were counting my faults during the ten to fifteen minutes they I had them waiting for me, my younger self would have been motivated to timeliness for selfish reasons.

Several years ago i was complaining about a co-worker who was trying to get a raise. We both had already received our yearly raise. She had been there five years less than me and I had twice as much responsibility. I was told "this has nothing to do with you". She didn't get her raise, I know because I did the payroll.

*Surround yourself with good people." Proximity is power.

This concept is also called the law of attraction, and it goes back at least to Confucius in the 6th century BC. If you hang out with positive, uplifting people, your life will reflect these values.

I remember something my dad told me....."A durn (sic) horse will kill you some day."

I've thought of it many times, as I lay on the ground back in some of my "bronc-ier" days.

Horses are killing me but it is a much slower death than he predicted.

My mother told me it is better to be an old man's darling than a young man's slave. When I was about 17, I had a crush on a 60 yr old rancher, friend of the family. It wasn't so much about him, but he had some gorgeous horses.

You don't have to be nice to people who aren't nice to you. I take that to mean that you don't have to be mean, but you don't have to accommodate them either.

nicole -- I had to smile at your contribution about choosing friends wisely. Our DS was attracted to a couple of new kids when he started high school. He 'went along' with the troublemakers one Halloween. We had to hire a lawyer, whose first words to DS were, "Why are you hanging around with @ssholes?"

From my Dad: the first cost is the least cost. For example, his father put a slate roof on the house he built in 1920. The roof is still intact.

This also means, engage an architect or KD etc who will think of the things you would not.

It's also part of the"do it now" philosophy: saves you money in the long run.

from an old boss...everyones a dumbf#ck but me...meaning, don't count on people to do what they are supposed to or what/how you expect. I've told my DD this...even as little as getting your Starbucks order right through a drive through...YOU GOTTA DOUBLE CHECK THEM!!!

Don’t live your life to make someone else happy. Unfortunately I didn’t take that advice.

Someone once told me that for work, you should do what you love. I did use that advice to make career changes, and I think it made me happier.

The Golden Rule really does not work all that well, as not everyone wants to be treated the same way. Some people like strangers to approach them and talk to them and some people prefer to be left alone. Some people liked to be hugged and fondled and some people consider that to be sexual harassment. Treating someone the way you wanted to be treated can get you into trouble. Better to treat others the way THEY want to be treated. The Golden Rule needs to be rewritten.

My dad taught me and my siblings to understand general home repair concepts. He made sure we all learned basic plumbing, electrical, construction, automobile repair and maintenance. His thought was you needed to understand what was wrong and either be able to fix it yourself or explain what was wrong to someone who could fix it.

bpath -- I like your motto even better than "You can pay now or you can pay later." (But you'll pay, either way.)

And you'll usually pay more later. Unless there's a slowdown at work and they call to offer a discount to get your business or to keep their crew working. But that's taking a chance.