14 Important Life Lessons You Only Learn By Accident

One of the most depressing facts in the world is that the most important lessons we learn in life come from our mistakes. Most of the time, we commit these sins unwittingly, and the lesson ends up being that we're too oblivious to know that The Last Airbender didn't have a chance at being any good. But these end up being some of the most valuable experiences we are dealt in life. Our egos are inflated enough for us to believe that we always know best, and that terrible viewing of that certain film has now taught you that you should no longer trust M. Night Shyamalan, no matter what franchise he's dealing with. Still, it's much better to learn from the mistakes of others rather than on our own. Here are some of the ones that have affected me the most that you can hopefully anticipate or at least relate to. At the very least, they can pleasantly remind us of how the world will never stop finding ways to metaphorically slap us in the face, no matter how old we get. Let the countdown begin...

14. Pick A Career, Not Just A Subject

Thanks to an endless array of television shows and movies about college life, the idea of using your time there to actually prepare for a career is glossed over in favor of simply having a good time with thousands of other reckless twenty-somethings. Of course, this is the best part about college, but the problem comes when we decide that picking a college major is something that we discover aside from all of our own silly antics. We end up picking something to major in, instead of a career. I can't tell you how many peers, both older and younger, have told me that they picked a college major without even fathoming what it would actually be like to seek a job in that profession. It's not until you're 23 and working at Subway that you realize you should have paid a little closer attention to what job listings you would be reading after the party's over.