10 Life Lessons Everyone Learns Growing Up In Indiana
By Trisha Faulkner|Published August 24, 2015
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Trisha Faulkner
Author
Trisha Faulkner is a stay-at-home and work-at-home Hoosier momma. She is a huge advocate of Autism awareness, and loves her beautiful boy more than life itself. She is a native Indiana writer who types her best pieces for Only In Your State between 2-4AM when her toddler finally falls over asleep.
Growing up or living in the state of Indiana for an extended period of time can be a pretty incredible learning experience. Chances are good some of the life lessons you learned growing up are going to differ from some of the life lessons I learned growing up. But, I can tell you I am 100 percent Hoosier. I was born and raised in the state of Indiana. I’ve never thought about leaving. Here are 10 life lessons I learned growing up in Indiana.
Don’t get me wrong Hoosier’s are known for their hospitality, but that doesn’t change the fact that there are a few ugly ones in the bunch. I’m overweight and the parent of a special needs child. I can tell you that there isn’t anywhere public I’ve been able to go that I haven’t run into at least one hateful or judgmental person. That doesn’t make me love this state any less, it just makes me feel bad for the hateful people I encounter. There are going to be hateful people everywhere. Don’t let them ruin your day.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to an event where there was that one person who had to show up already having had too much to drunk. Newsflash – showing up to the party drunk is never a good idea.
Life is what you make it out to be in the state of Indiana. There are going to be ups and downs with everything, but your life is only a "mess" if you let it be one. Just smile and keep going, things do get better (even if they get worse first).
One thing I’ve learned about Hoosiers is that we can be really stubborn. The last thing you want to do is disagree with a Hoosier because that fight is never going to end. Might be a downfall on our part, but we don’t like being wrong. Just agree to disagree, you will save yourself a lot of time and frustration.
I was born and raised in the state of Indiana. I have to tell you the first time I saw my mother cry, it just reminded me that she was human. It’s pretty easy to get stuck believing you have this super human parent when you really don’t. You don’t have to hide your tears from your children.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some Hoosiers who would probably consider themselves rich. There are also some Hoosiers who are just generally happy with the amount of money they have. However, most of the Hoosiers I know struggle to get by and live paycheck to paycheck. We certainly aren’t known for being one of the richer states. Does that mean we're unhappy? Of course not! Money doesn’t buy happiness.
7. What other people think of you is none of your business
This stems back to the fact that there are always going to be judgmental people in your world. This is probably true in every state – not just Indiana.
It can be very easy to assume that Bob and June next door have a much better life than you, but you couldn’t possibly know what goes on behind closed doors. Assuming the grass is greener on the other side is only going to make you unhappy with the life you're currently living.
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9. What doesn’t kill you will definitely make you stronger
There's no reason for you to beat yourself up or dwell on everything that happens. Regardless of how bad it was, you're still alive. You'll find some way to learn and grow from it. This is how Hoosiers thrive.
This is something that takes a while for some people to learn, but once it clicks – you tend to be a lot happier. Hoosiers really don’t get along well with anyone who thinks they're the center of the entire universe.
What do you think about these life lessons? Did you learn any of them when you were growing up? Maybe there were some other life lessons you learned while growing up you’d like to share? It’s never too late to learn something new.
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