What Advice Would You Give To Your Younger Self?

In a conversation with one of my sons the other day, I thought about some lessons I have learned. I truly wish I understood these future lessons when I was a teenager and a young adult. Life is full of so much potential when you understand some simple concepts about life. Is there advice or wisdom that you would share with your younger self?

What I Know Now About the Journey

• Some paths go from A to Z. Others go from A to D to G to K to Z. We all have the potential to get to where we want to go, but we may take different paths. Be OK with your own journey.
• Keep learning. Don’t think that you know it all. Open your mind to new opinions and ideas.
• Use the word “help.”
• Take it one day at a time, and methodically, with thought and purpose, pursue your goals. What’s the rush? You have a lifetime to figure it all out!
• Age doesn’t matter. Each day can be anyone’s last day. Live with purpose.
• Sometimes obstacles are put up in front of us with our own hands. Leap over them!
• No decision IS a decision.

Advice on Relationships

• Don’t worry about what other people are doing. Comparison truly is the thief of joy. Believe in yourself! Own your own life.
• Don’t hold onto toxic memories or people. Allow yourself the grace to let them go.
• Use the words thank you. Say I love you. Let people know how you feel.
• Don’t let your own insecurities frame your thoughts about other people. Instead, deal with yourself and overcome your own shortcomings.
• There is no such thing as the perfect parent. Just try to do your best.

Your Morals and Values

• Know your worth.
• Keep your promises. Your word is everything.
• The way you live your life can be an inspiration to others. It can also be a tale of caution.
• Love one another. Love yourself.
• Listen more and talk less. Sometimes people don’t want advice.
• Material things are meaningless. It’s the intangible around us that makes life worth living.
• It’s courageous to examine our own hearts. It’s growth to face your own fears.

Health

• Exercise. Drink water. Enjoy the natural world around you. It replenishes the soul.
• Without your health, you’ve got nothing.
• The only person you can control is yourself.
• At your funeral, no one is going to say “They were a good employee.”
• As you age, keep moving!

Isn’t it funny that it takes a lifetime to understand certain lessons? I guess that’s where the saying “If I knew then what I know now,” means in the scheme of life. What advice am I missing? Do you have lessons you would like to share with your younger self?