Never take a chance. 

You could endanger yourself and more importantly those around you that don't have anything to do with aviation.  If you ever have a doubt about yourself or your equipment, ask someone about it or don't fly, it's not worth your life or the life of others.

It may not necissarily be a lesson learned, but flying (and my future aviation goals) has caused a major personality shift in me.

I used to be the type of kid that was damn smart (I still am ), but always took the easy way out, and was fine with being second (or third, or eigth) best at everything.  I would skim off the top for all of my work, never working to my full potential.  And I was fine with it.

Two things changed this-getting arrested ( ) and beginning to fly.  I realized that, if I wanted to be a pilot in the airforce, I could not be content with being normal.  Average.  Marginal.  I was going to be the absolute best at everything I did not only in regards to aviation, but I had to step it up in school too.  I was not willing to be one of those PPL guys that says "well, my navigation is a little out there but I can get her in the air and get 'er back down."  I was going to be proficient in everything I did, and work hard at getting there if I wasn't.  Both my instructors have always been very impressed with the amount of reading/studying I do on my own, and they say that they have to teach EVERYTHING to many of the students they get.

I've never had this attitude once in my life before my sophomore year, and I think me likes it

Beefhole makes a very good point, probably the most common and most important side-effect of flight training, or any similar endeavor. I had to completely retool myself mentally in order to earn my PP. Discipline, sacrifice, patience, humility,and focus all had to be reinforced.

"You'll never get rich working for an airline."

Agreed.  Flying can create stress when you're on the ground, but once you're up there it sure does make up for it

The three things which are no good to a pilot:

• Sky above you
• Runway behind you
• A tenth of a second ago

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On one of my first solos I was abeam the numbers where I had to reduce RPMs to 1700 and I reached down to grab the throttle, but grabbed the mixture instead and was ready to pull and realized what I was doing.  Startled me to say the least.

Well Boss_Blue Angels you have me thinking now

When I first started Grass Roots Flying it was with a retired Squadron Leader.
On the walk around he stopped me and looked me right in the eye and said: "Doug, learn something new every day no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time".
As my career developed in a positive way from Grass Roots Flying>Bush Flying>Military Aviation>Commercial Aviation and at long last back to Grass Roots Flying I remembered his words and have tried to do what he said.
If I could pass anything on to you it would be what he said to me
By your post I can see your on the correct heading.
Something to think about, when pilots go to parties we stand around and talk for hours about aircraft, flying experiences, close calls and maybe even women LOL.  When you retire you will find yourself standing around the BAR B Q exchanging cooking recipes.
Oh and that Squadron Leader, on my first solo after 4.9 hours of dual, he dropped out of the Moth after our first touch and go of the day, yelled in my ear..."Take her up for at least six touch and goes...May God Go With You and I Don't Envy God" and he walked away.
He was a real old Buggar sometimes...God Rest His Soul.

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

Ive had only one lesson (yesterday, and Im still smiling), but one big thing that I learned, or rather realized is: An airplane is not some gloriouse magic carpet, its a vehicle. The one I was in was old, dirty, dinged here and there, and had bird crap on the elevater. It just made it seem more real to me.

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Hell - it turns into a ruddy Spitfire!

There I was; a bundle of 18-yr-old twitching nerves pushing the throttle in all by my lonely for the first time.
Got up, set climb and all of a sudden I'm going "DUMM DE DAAA DA DA DA DAAA DAAA DAAA DAAA...." (Off we go, into the Wild Blue yonder, instrumental version. )

Don't bother that the little Cessna was about as close to a Spit as a go-kart is to a Porsche. Don't bother that I was white-knucking the yoke with one hand and choking hell out of the throttle (yes; throttling it...) with the other. Buzz Buerling was taking off to fight the Nazis!
(Of course; reality hit when Buzz Buerling realized he'd have to turn sooner or later... )

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The PTT switch is a multifuction device. When the pilot is in normal mode, it's a PTT switch, when someone's in his sights, its the gun button!

You can make lots of money working for an airline in the US-you just have to be working for a long time, and you have to be on some mid to big sized equipment.

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Hope you didn't learn that the hard way... do people call you "Lefty?"

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Well, I believe taking chances can be advantageous in most cases...even in aviation.

Well, I consider flying in itself as taking a chance.  Obviously its a wise idea to never put yourself or someone else in a dangerous situation.  Never be a cocky, gung ho, I know it all pilot, because if you don't know your limitations, you will learn stuff the hard way.  The idea is, know what your doing.