What’s the most underrated life skill?
I have spent quite some time of my life editing and when needed writing school books. Needless to say, I have spent a lot of time thinking about life skills, since they have to be integrated in every subject and they have become quite essential and I wouldn’t say just for a child’s growth but for adults as well.
Life skills are something we never stop learning, because that is what they are, the skills you learn in your life to carry on in everyday life. Like the different subjects of school, in life as well we have different life skills to navigate our life through different scenarios. The learning never ends, the experience can never be enough, the understanding always has more depth to reach, thus the skills we learn or will learn never stop coming.
When we grow and expand our thoughts, we become more understanding of the different tones of life and we become more capable of attempting things like replacing evolving life skills by associating or disassociating certain attributes. It is quite apparent by the increasing number of books based on unlearning and learning.
Life skills as a whole can be underrated. When you look around there is something or the other one is pointing out to, from not littering on road to closing the switch with charger when the phone is not charging or simply one trying to push others to be more mindful of other people and treating them right. We end up simply ignoring things, maybe subconsciously or maybe consciously in an attempt to save a tiny bit of energy for what outcome, only known and understood by us.
I have respect for those who make an attempt to remind people of these skills. Some may find them bothersome, and the impatient world might try to throw some anger at them and they have drastically reduced in number over time but some are still there. I just remembered how my late grandfather would always insist on me checking my pockets for wallet, house keys, keys of my bike before I left his apartment after spending time with him. I used to take it all out and show it to him that I have them, although inside I wished I forgot something for which I would have to return.
Talking of the impatient world that is quick to rise to anger. I think the most underrated life skill in today’s world might be to simply walk away. In that situation when you are not at fault, yet are being treated unfairly and you have every intention of using that anger to dress your words with fists tightening like readying the arsenal, the life skill would be to realise that if something is not at grave risk, maybe simply subduing the anger and walking away can save you from the heated exchange that can lead to multiple outcomes of negative nature. No one sane minded wants to spend time with such a feeling for multiple days. That is one of the most important keys to peace and calm. We will have to face our challenges in life for sure, but where we can, we should try to fly our kite away from the unnecessary challenge, ensuring more time soaring in the openness of the sky.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
One response to “The Retracting Steps”
I really liked your point about simply walking away. Perhaps that is one of those life skills that is genuinely underrated not because people don’t understand the concept, but because we often mistake walking away for weakness, avoidance, or losing an argument.
There is something quite powerful about knowing that you can respond, you can fight back, and yet choosing not to because the situation isn’t worth the emotional price it may demand from you.
Perhaps that is the real skill not merely controlling anger, but learning to recognise which battles deserve your energy and which ones don’t. Sometimes walking away isn’t escaping the challenge; it’s refusing to let an unnecessary one consume you.
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