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16 amazing animated series and movies to add to your comfort show list

Because cartoons aren't just for kids.

Promotion image for Bluey; Promotion image for Flow

Bluey and Flow promo images

Bluey (left); Flow (right)

In times of stress, comfort shows can provide just the right amount of escapism, familiarity, and emotional relief. When the world seems to be crumbling around us, sometimes the only way to actually relax is to thrust ourselves into the world of fiction, where characters reflect the best parts of ourselves (or at least the funniest parts) and storylines are soothingly predictable.

As far as what types of comfort shows to watch, many might gravitate towards sitcoms or reality shows. But man, are those folks missing out on what feels like a golden age of animation. It’s not just kid cartoons anymore, nor the sardonic slapstick styles of “made for adult” cartoons like The Simpsons or Family Guy. We’re talking deeply compelling storylines set against incredibly striking visuals. What’s not to like? You get everything you enjoy about good TV, while getting to escape into art.

And, animated films and television shows haven’t only added more depth, but breadth of variety. We’ve curated a list of some for you to consider during your next binge. Whether you want to laugh, cry, or do both at the same time, there’s sure to be something worth watching.

Whimsical + Fun

These are more nostalgia driven, and have a bit of a classic cartoon feel. For when you want to just let your inner child come out for a bit.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

This animated Nickelodeon show premiered in 2005 and also made our previous “comfort shows” list because it's just that good. Sure, it’s made for kids, but viewers of all ages continue to appreciate the show’s quirky, loveable characters and interwoven mindfulness lessons. What's more, ATLA does a lot of heavy lifting in its storylines. Though the packaging of the show is indeed whimsical and fantastic, it fearlessly tackles deep topics such as genocide, the destruction of war, nationalism and imperialism, social justice, loss, the importance of protecting the environment, and the value of love, friendship, and family. There's a reason its remained extremely popular since its debut twenty years ago.

Bluey

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Bluey is even more of a kiddie show, and yet is perfect for kids and parents alike because of its relatable, realistic family dynamics, tackling complex emotions in a child-friendly way with clever humor and wholesome portrayals of everyday life. And because every character on the show, including the parents, share their discoveries, many adults find the show to be healing.

Adventure Time

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Speaking of progressive kid’s shows, if you’re looking for an animated show that features a charming bromance, gender swaps, body positivity, and fun slang like “oh my glob!” then check out Adventure Time. It premiered on Cartoon Network in 2010 but still holds up with or without the power of nostalgia thanks to how it portrays growth, relationships, trauma, and the beauty of life and friendship.

Over the Garden Wall

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Over the Garden Wall is an American animated miniseries that centers on two half-brothers who travel through a mysterious forest called The Unknown to find their way home, encountering a variety of strange and fantastical things on their journey. Since premiering on Cartoon Network in 2014, the show has become a cult classic of sorts, and surged again in popularity thanks to a three-minute stop-motion short celebrating its 10th anniversary this past November. When you enter The Unknown prepare to be enthralled by a spooky, yet whimsical story that belongs in a Brothers Grimm's collection, brought to life by an incredible voice acting cast and score.

The Dragon Prince

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The Dragon Prince, later known as The Dragon Prince: Mystery of Aaravos, was a clear attempt to tonally pick up where Avatar left off (it was written by the same writers, after all). And in many ways, it follows a similar fantasy quest template. We have a bit of an enemies-to-lovers thing going on as Callum, a human training to be a mage, and Rayla, a Moon elf, begin their quest whilst taking care of the infant Storm Dragon, the titular Dragon Prince during a time of conflict between magical beings and mankind. But the story definitely finds its legs, creating its own unique blend of goofy charm and mature plotlines.

Epic Action

Moving into more mature, complex territory here, this next batch of shows are great options for folks who think cartoons aren’t for them. These are more like the works of Shakespeare, set in a painting.

Arcane

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

This show is, in a word, STUNNING. Both in terms of visuals and storytelling. Yes, it’s based on the League of Legends video game, but you can be the antithesis of a gamer and still appreciate it’s complex characters, deep emotional themes, and well-crafted world. Talk about a brilliant meditation on classism and trauma.

The Legend of Vox Machina

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Again, this animated series is captivating whether you’re into Dungeons and Dragons or not. Though there’s plenty of silly humor in this one, it is well balanced with serious (downright heartbreaking) moments as well. If you’ve got a soft spot for found family dynamics, enjoy.

Blue Eye Samurai

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

After becoming a near overnight mega hit on Netflix, Blue Eye Samurai was dubbed not only one of the best animated shows on the platform, but one of its best shows period. You could almost think of it as an elevated anime, that tonally feels like a spaghetti western samurai film hybrid alá The Magnificent Seven. Beyond the revenge plot is also an inspiring story of transcending societal expectations, all in order to find one’s own greatness. This is made evident by one of the key characters, Akemi (voiced by Brenda Song) declaring “I want to be great” during a pivotal fork-in-the-road moment. That’s all we’ll say about that.

Based on a Comic Book

Sure, cartoons are not a hard sell for comic book fans, but when put into animated form, even non-nerds can enjoy the high stakes storylines and compelling characters that come with the genre, making it even more accessible.

Harley Quinn

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The animated series on Max exudes all the qualities that most people love about this iconic comic book henchman-turned-villainess in her own right. It’s vivacious, it’s fun, and it’s bonkers. Plus, and perhaps most importantly, the romantic relationship between Harley and Poison Ivy is put front and center and refreshingly full of queer joy.

X-Men 97

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

There’s a reason this show has been hailed a masterpiece, and nostalgia has very little to do with it. This animated series succeeds at what all the live action iterations have failed to do in tackling Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s original themes of prejudice, racism, and the importance of fighting against them.

Invincible

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Invincible has all the campy comic book fun that we grew up with as kids, and yet still goes down very, very dark roads. In a similar vein to Amazon’s The Boys, it portrays the reality of being a hero, and how being idolized does not a hero make. Arguably though, unlike The Boys, there's as much heart as there is grit.

Movies

Because not everyone has the wherewithal to binge yet another series. animated movies offer plenty of comfort, too. You might notice that most of the movies on this list came from 2024—and rightfully so because it was a good year for animation.

Flow

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

This little independent Latvian film is making a huge splash this awards season, and for good reason. The dialogue-free story—which centers around a lone black cat and its unlikely crew of a capybara, a lemur, a bird, and a Golden retriever—is less of a movie and more of a beautifully profound meditation on life itself. It’s whimsical, poignant, breathtakingly gorgeous, and worth many, many watches. Primarily because the first watch is so stressful seeing those animals get into hairy situations.

Wild Robot

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Ever wanted an animated film that feels like a ”warm hug from a mother?” Then this is the film for you. Based on a somber children’s book by Peter Brown that deals with grief, loss, and found families, the movie is just deeply resonating. Definitely a “grab your tissues” kind of watch. But a very cathartic one.

Spirited Away

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Truthfully any of Hayao Miyazaki’s works could fit the bill, but Spirited Away specifically feels like being thrust into a Japanese fairytale. And yet, there are universal themes of self-discovery, facing fears, and the importance of identity. Don’t expect a cut-and-dry hero-vs-villain storyline here, but prepare to walk away with lasting wisdom.

Inside Out 1&2

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Similarly, Pixar’s animated films about dealing with complex human emotions doesn’t have a true antagonist, and it’s because of that that audiences are able to explore mental health and/or emotional struggles we have all had and see them in all new, hopefully more compassionate ways. Both the original and its sequel are part film, part therapy.

We understand that times might be especially anxiety inducing, particularly those experiencing loss or stress from the California wildfire emergency. That’s why Upworthy has created a resource guide for those who need help, and those who want to help. Perhaps after regulating and finding calm (hopefully with one or more of these shows!), it might be a good read.

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Neuroscientists say a simple trick will help you learn any new skill a lot faster

Learning a new skill? Here's how to quickly level-up.

guitar, learning a skill, neuroscience, music, exposure, passive exposure, gardening

via Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels

A woman learning how to play guitar.

Learning a new skill, such as playing an instrument, gardening, or picking up a new language, takes a lot of time and practice, whether that means scale training, learning about native plants, or using flashcards to memorize new words. To improve through practice, you have to perform the task repeatedly and receive feedback so you know whether you’re doing it correctly. Is my pitch correct? Did my geraniums bloom? Is my pronunciation understandable?

However, a new study by researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience at the University of Oregon shows that you can speed up these processes by adding a third element to practice and feedback: passive exposure. The good news is that passive exposure requires minimal effort and is enjoyable.

"Active learning of a... task requires both expending effort to perform the task and having access to feedback about task performance," the study authors explained. "Passive exposure to sensory stimuli, on the other hand, is relatively effortless and does not require feedback about performance."

woman reading, woman book, young woman, studying, new skills A woman reading a book.via Canva/Photos

How to pick up new skills faster?

So, if you’re learning to play the blues on guitar, listen to plenty of Howlin’ Wolf or Robert Johnson throughout the day. If you’re learning to cook, keep the Food Network on TV in the background to absorb some great culinary advice. Learning to garden? Take the time to notice the flora and fauna in your neighborhood or make frequent trips to your local botanical garden.

If you’re learning a new language, watch plenty of TV and films in the language you are learning. The scientists add that auditory learning is especially helpful, so listen to plenty of audiobooks or podcasts on the subject you’re learning about.

But, of course, you also have to be actively learning the skill as well by practicing your guitar for the recommended hours each day or by taking a class in languages. Passive exposure won't do the work for you, but it's a fantastic way to pick up things more quickly. Further, passive exposure keeps the new skill you're learning top-of-mind, so you're probably more likely to actively practice it.

What is passive exposure?

Researchers discovered the tremendous benefits of passive exposure after studying a group of mice. They trained them to find water by using various sounds to give positive or negative feedback, like playing a game of “hot or cold.” Some mice were passively exposed to these sounds when they weren't looking for water. Those who received this additional passive exposure and those who received active training learned to find the water reward more quickly.

gardening, woman gardening, gardening shears, leaning gardening, weeds A woman tending to her garden.via Canva/Photos

“Our results suggest that, in mice and in humans, a given performance threshold can be achieved with relatively less effort by combining low-effort passive exposure with active training,” James Murray, a neuroscientist who led the study, told University of Oregon News. “This insight could be helpful for humans learning an instrument or a second language, though more work will be needed to better understand how this applies to more complex tasks and how to optimize training schedules that combine passive exposure with active training.”

The one drawback to this study was that it was conducted on mice, not humans. However, recent studies on humans have found similar results, such as in sports. If you visualize yourself excelling at the sport or mentally rehearse a practice routine, it can positively affect your actual performance. Showing, once again, that when it comes to picking up a new skill, exposure is key.

The great news about the story is that, in addition to giving people a new way to approach learning, it’s an excuse for us to enjoy the things we love even more. If you enjoy listening to blues music so much that you decided to learn for yourself, it’s another reason to make it an even more significant part of your life.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

This article originally appeared last year.

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Man returns his beloved childhood book to the library after finding it on the other side of the world

It was 36 years overdue.

library book, children's book, harry the dirty dog, overdue library book, chantilly regional library

Fairfax County Public Library/Facebook

A man returned a library book his parents had checked out for him in 1989, when he was 5 years old.

Most of us have returned an overdue library book or two in our lifetimes, but probably not one that went several decades past its due date. Books that have been missing from the library for that long are usually destroyed or long lost, fated to never make their way back home.

That was not the case for a copy of Harry the Dirty Dog that was returned to the Chantilly Regional Library in Virginia on Thanksgiving weekend 2025. The children's book had been checked out 36 years earlier by the parents of Dimitris Economou, who was five years old at the time. The Fairfax County Public Library shared a photo of the book and the handwritten note that accompanied it on their Facebook page.

The note read:

library book, children's book, harry the dirty dog, overdue library book, chantilly regional library The Fairfax County Public Library shared this photo on its Facebook page. www.facebook.com

“This book was checked out Nov. 6, 1989 by my parents who were diplomats based in DC at the time. They are now retired in Greece and I found this book on their shelves. It traveled the world and was well taken care of as you can see. And now it can find its way home.”

The library also wrote, "Thank you to Dimitris' parents for taking such good care of our book and to Dimitris for helping the book find its way back to our shelves."

According to Northern Virginia Magazine, Economou found the children's book on his parents' shelf when he took it down to read to his own son.

“I was reading it to my son, who is now seven years old,” Economou said, “As we got to the end, I realized it was a library book. … The moment I saw it, I felt like I had to return it. ...It just felt like the right thing to do.”

children's literature, kids books, library, public library, books, reading Some children's books never get old. Photo credit: Canva

It's never too late to return a library book

Economou's family had taken the book with them through many moves all around the world, from Syria to the Netherlands, to Japan, and finally ending up in Athens, Greece. So basically, Harry the Dirty Dog had a three-decade-long globetrotting adventure with the family until Economou discovered it.

Why return it after that much time? As Economou said, it was simply the right thing to do.

“People really care about library books, and most people really care about getting them back. And this kind of proves it, that they really cared about getting the book back to us,” library branch manager Ingrid Bowers told the Washington Post.

As far as fines for such an overdue book, Economou didn't need to worry. Chantilly Regional Library is a fine-free library, so Harry the Dirty Dog just got reshelved for other kids to enjoy.

library, librarian, public library, overdue books, books Librarians are the best.Photo credit: Canva

The timeless joy and wonder of the public library system

Public libraries are undeniably one of the greatest ideas human beings have ever come up with and one that we should never take for granted. Everything about libraries is a testament to humanity's faith in itself. The belief that people should have free access to knowledge, information, ideas, art, and entertainment is beautiful. Librarians trained to help you find whatever you are looking for are a gift. In many places, libraries now offer other useful items to borrow, such as power tools, kitchen appliances, gardening supplies, language classes, and museum passes. Libraries recognize needs and fill them, asking nothing in return except for people to bring things back.

Perhaps that's why Economou returning a book after 36 years felt like the right thing to do and makes us feel good in turn. Libraries trust us, collectively, to uphold our part of the agreement, which isn't a lot to ask when their part is so much greater. In exchange for getting to take home almost any book we can think of (plus whatever else they offer), we're supposed to bring them back. Even if it's been 36 years.

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I showed my Gen Z kids 'Dead Poets Society' and their angry reactions to it floored me

"Inspiring" apparently means different things to Gen X and Gen Z.

Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, gen x and gen z differences

Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers/YouTube

Robin Williams played inspiring English teacher John Keating in "Dead Poets Society."

As a Gen X parent of Gen Z teens and young adults, I'm used to cringing at things from 80s and 90s movies that haven't aged well. However, a beloved film from my youth that I thought they'd love, "Dead Poets Society," sparked some unexpectedly negative responses in my kids, shining a spotlight on generational differences I didn't even know existed.

I probably watched "Dead Poets Society" a dozen or more times as a teen and young adult, always finding it aesthetically beautiful, tragically sad, and profoundly inspiring. That film was one of the reasons I decided to become an English teacher, inspired as I was by Robin Williams' portrayal of the passionately unconventional English teacher, John Keating.

The way Mr. Keating shared his love of beauty and poetry with a class of high school boys at a stuffy prep school, encouraging them to "seize the day" and "suck all the marrow out of life," hit me right in my idealistic youthful heart. And when those boys stood up on their desks for him at the end of the film, defying the headmaster who held their futures in his hands? What a moving moment of triumph and support.

My Gen Z kids, however, saw the ending differently. They did love the feel of the film, which I expected with its warm, cozy, comforting vibe (at least up until the last 20 minutes or so). They loved Mr. Keating, because how can you not? But when the movie ended, I was taken aback hearing "That was terrible!" and "Why would you traumatize me like that?" before they also admitted, "But it was so gooood!"

- YouTube youtu.be

The traumatize part I actually get—I'd forgotten just how incredibly heavy the film gets all of a sudden. (A caveat I feel the need to add here: Gen Z uses the word "traumatize" not in a clinical sense but as an exaggerative term for being hit unexpectedly by something sad or disturbing. They know they weren't literally traumatized by the movie.)

But in discussing it further, I discovered three main generational differences that impacted my kids' "Dead Poets Society" viewing experience and what they took away from it.

1) Gen Z sees inspiring change through a systemic lens, not an individual one

The first thing my 20-year-old said when the credits rolled was, "What? That's terrible! Nothing changed! He got fired and the school is still run by a bunch of stodgy old white men forcing everyone to conform!" My immediate response was, "Yeah, but he changed those boys' individual lives, didn't he? He helped broaden their minds and see the world differently."

o captain my captain, dead poets society Individual impact isn't as inspiring to Gen Z as it was to Gen X. Giphy

I realized that Gen X youth valued individuals going against the old, outdated system and doing their own thing, whereas Gen Z values the dismantling of the system itself. For Gen X, Mr. Keating and the boys taking a stand was inspiring, but the fact that it didn't actually change anything outside of their own individual experiences stuck like a needle in my Gen Z kids' craw.

2) Gen Z isn't accustomed to being blindsided by tragic storylines with no warning

To be fair, I did tell them there was "a sad part" before the movie started. But I'd forgotten how deeply devastating the last part of the movie was, so my daughter's "Why would you do that to me?!" was somewhat warranted. "I thought maybe a dog would die or something!" she said. No one really expected one of the main characters to die by suicide and the beloved teacher protagonist to be blamed for his death, but I'd somehow minimized the tragedy of it all in my memory so my "sad part" warning was a little insufficient.

But also to be fair, Gen X youth never got any such warnings—we were just blindsided by tragic plot twists all the time. As kids, we cheered on Atreyu trying to save his horse from the swamp in "The Neverending Story" only to watch him drown. Adults showed us "Watership Down" thinking it would be a cute little animated film about bunnies. We were slapped in the face by the tragic child death in "My Girl," which was marketed as a sweet coming of age movie.

Gen Z was raised in the era of trigger warnings and trauma-informed practices, while Gen X kids watched a teacher die on live TV in our classrooms with zero follow-up on how we were processing it. Those differences became apparent real quick at the end of this movie.

The Never Ending Story Atreyu GIFfrom The Never Ending Story GIFs

3) Gen Z fixates on boundary-crossing behavior that Gen X either overlooked or saw as more nuanced

The other reaction I wasn't expecting was the utter disdain my girls showed for Knox Overstreet, the sweet-but-over-eager character who fell for the football player's cheerleader girlfriend. His boundary-crossing attempts to woo her were always cringe, but for Gen X, cringe behavior in the name of love was generally either overlooked, tolerated, or sometimes even celebrated. (Standing on a girl's lawn in the middle of the night holding a full-volume stereo over your head was peak romance for Gen X, remember.) For Gen Z, the only thing worse than cringe is predatory behavior, which Knox's obsessiveness and pushiness could arguably be seen as. My own young Gen X lens saw Knox and said, "That's a bit much, dude. Take it down a notch or three." My Gen Z daughters' lens said, "That guy's a total creepo. She needs to run far the other way."

run, red flag behavior Gen Z is much more black and white about behaviors than previous generations. Giphy Red Flag Run GIF by BuzzFeed

On one hand, I was proud of them for recognizing red flag behaviors and calling them out. On the other hand, I saw how little room there is for nuance in their perceptions, which was…interesting.

To be clear, I don't think my Gen Z kids' reactions to "Dead Poets Society" are wrong; they're just different than mine were at their age. We're usually on the same page when it comes to these kinds of analyses, so seeing them have a drastically different reaction to something I loved at their age was really something. Now I'm wondering what other favorite movies from my youth I should show them to see if they view those differently as well—hopefully without "traumatizing" them too much with the experience.

This article originally appeared in January.

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People share 32 words they purposefully mispronounce to get a laugh out of others

"I used to call my dog 'furface' but I pronounced it like Versace."

funny mispronounced words, mispronounced words, mispronouncing words, funny words, words that make you laugh, laughing

Photo credit: Canva

A woman laughing.

One of the most amusing things about the English language is wordplay. Also known as a play on words, it involves experimenting with sounds, spellings, and meanings for the sake of wit and humor. And there are few things funnier than deliberately mispronouncing English words.

Merriam-Webster notes that English is especially ripe for wordplay because its origins are an amalgam of different languages. "It's essentially a product of Anglo-Saxon aka Old English, Latin, Old Norse, and Anglo-French," it explains.

With so many dialectal influences, English has plenty of opportunities for funny pronunciations. On Reddit, people shared 32 words they deliberately mispronounce because it makes them (and others) chuckle.

- YouTube www.youtube.com

"I used to call my dog 'furface' but I pronounced it like Versace. She always smiled." - copingcabana

"I call people casseroles instead of *ssholes." - SentimentalTaterTot

"My wife is a pharmacist, I always say drug names incorrectly to annoy her. Omee prazolee, like it's an Italian dish." - Whitchit1, marsh283

"Baby because of Moira Rose [Schitt's Creek]. RIP." - Darius2112

"Porpoise instead of purpose. My Dad said it once and I will say it forever. It's fun and silly. People usually ignore it 🤷🏼♀️" - fortheloveofgodno

"Diabeetus, RIP Wilford Brimley." - Phoenix_Rising42069

- YouTube www.youtube.com

"A-A-Ron [Key & Peele]." - TwoDrinkDave

"Quesadilla - Kay suh dil uh - mainly Napoleon Dynamite." - anix421

"AirPods, I call them Air-buds because it triggers my grandkids." - Pristine_Explorer265

"Canadian here, I say 'aboot' when I'm around Americans." - Saucefire

"Fragile, as fra-gee-lay. Thanks to A Christmas Story." - goldimom

"Ess-cap-ayyyyy! Funny, it's spelled just like the word escape?" - InfinitiveIdeals

"Scissors. Pronounced skizzers." - NarrativeScorpion

"I pronounce the K in Knife. Sharp tools deserve sharp consonants, none of this silent letter nonsense." - captain_slackbeard

"Epitome -> epi-tome. Because I learned that word by reading and now because it annoys certain family members." - Ace_W

@dadlifejason
Bruh. I cant shake this no matter how hard i try. This is how it looks!!! #duet #funny #bruh

"I said Hermione (as in Granger) as her-me-own for ages before I realized." - rebekha

"Beeth-oven and So-crates. Be excellent to each other!" - NotSayingAliensBut

"I do the opposite and do testicles and molecules like they are the names of Ancient Greek heroes/philosophers." - TheOtterDecider

"Saxamaphone and trampopoline. Because Homer [Simpson]." - mr_dbini

- YouTube www.youtube.com

"I put the em-FAH-sis on the wrong syl-AH-bull [View from the Top]." - diogenes_shadow

"I like to say milestone such that it rhymes with minestrone. I also like to say ziggurat instead of cigarette. I just think it's funny, no other reason." - Tenocticatl

"Champagne. 🍾 Cham-pag-nee. Because it's Bugs Bunny style." - Necessary-Eye5319

"Trés-passing. 'There's only two of us, it doesn't say no dos-passing'." - DivineUnconvention

"Microwave as me crow wawv eh because funny. Nigella Lawson is shaking in her boots right now!" - Bubbly_Skin_8069, TheDriverEarist

"Hors d'oeuvres. Whores Dee Vours." - stedun

"Washedyoursister sauce [Worcestershire sauce]." - Mr_McGigglepants

"I used to mispronounce Persephone as Purse a phone to annoy my father. He was a fan of Greek mythology and even gave me a middle name based on one of the stories. Enough reason to want to annoy him." - metalmick

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The 'one simple fact' about life that gave Steve Jobs the courage to change the world

The same spark can live in all of us.

steve jobs, steve jobs advice, santa clara, apple, technology advice

Photo via Santa Clara Valley Historical Association/YouTube

Steve Jobs speaks to the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association.

Steve Jobs was one of the greatest minds of our time because he could anticipate what people would love before they even knew it themselves. By blending art and technology, he helped create era-defining products like the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and Macintosh computer. He also helped guide Pixar to change how we see movies.

Jobs once described the epiphany that led him to embrace out-of-the-box thinking in a 1994 interview with the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association. The message was simple: you're just as smart as the people who created the parameters of the modern world, so break them and see what you can create.

- YouTube youtu.be

The realization that changed his life

In the interview, Jobs revealed:

"When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That's a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is that everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again."

"The minute that you understand that you can poke life and actually something will, you know if you push in, something will pop out the other side, that you can change it, you can mold it," Jobs continued. "That's maybe the most important thing. It's to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you're just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it."

steve jobs, iphone, jobs apple, apple iphone luanch, steve jobs conference, stete jobs speech, Steve Jobs holds an iPhone 4 at the 2010 Worldwide Developers Conference.Photo via Matthew Yohe/Wikimedia Commons

His advice applies to everyone

Jobs's realization is empowering because he argues that the people who came before us were no more special than we are today, and that we shouldn't live our lives constrained by their limitations. Traditions from years ago may no longer serve us, and pathways to success that once worked may not be as fruitful today. Nobody knows how to live your life but you.

He added that the average person has the intelligence to make big, significant changes that can improve the lives of many. In fact, with all the information and technology available today, individuals have far more tools than those who originally created the parameters by which we live.

steve jobs, iphone, jobs apple, apple ipad luanch, steve jobs conference, stete jobs speech, Steve Jobs introducing the iPad in San Francisco on January 27, 2010.Photo via Matt Buchanan/Wikimedia Commons

"I think that's very important, and however you learn that, once you learn it, you'll want to change life and make it better, cause it's kind of messed up, in a lot of ways," Jobs said. "Once you learn that, you'll never be the same again."

The beautiful thing about this realization is that Jobs wasn't trying to gatekeep being a changemaker but instead invited everyone to the party. His breakthrough was an admission that the world is never finished; it is only a rough draft that we can either keep perfecting or throw away and start something completely different.

Look around, what do you think we can improve that no one else has considered? That's how you start thinking like Steve Jobs, and after we lost him in 2011, it's clear we could use more people who see the world the way he did.

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