If you could write a note to your younger self, what would you say in just two words.
But there's so, so much more to the story.
If I wrote the longer version of the note (which OF COURSE I would, because I've never used two words when a couple dozen would do) it would go something like this.
Dear younger me,
You're wrong to not hold up your hand in school even when you know all the answers because you're afraid other people will thank you're a teacher's pet.
You're wrong to think that you're limited by your circumstances, your upbringing, your shyness. The world is yours for the taking. Go get it.
You're wrong to not try out for the high school quick recall team because even though you KNOW all the answers, you're afraid you might get one wrong.
You're wrong to make assumptions about other people. You haven't been in their shoes for even a minute - don't pretend to know what their lives are like.
You're wrong to spend so much time worrying about things out of your control, stressing about things that you have absolutely no impact on.
You're wrong not to appreciate the things you have - family and friends who love you and look out for you in all things. You're wrong to not tell them how much you appreciate them. You're wrong to take them for granted.
You're wrong to not even try to get onto the college yearbook and newspaper staff. Your years as editor in high school would have gotten you there, if you hadn't been afraid to try. You would have been awesome at it.
You're wrong to drop out of college. You're so, so, so wrong. I cannot even begin to tell you how wrong you are.
You're wrong to not fight for the things and people and experiences you want.
You're wrong to settle for a job when you should have had a career.
You're wrong to ever spend money you don't have on things you don't need and that won't make you happy.
You're wrong to not put yourself out there more. You're good at a lot of things and people will appreciate it, if you can learn to toot your own horn a little.
You're wrong to fall into a "new manager" trap of trying to be friends with people whose performance evaluations you write.
You're wrong to care what people think about you. Their opinions are not your reality.
You're wrong to not go home to visit your Mama more.
You're wrong to not start writing your novel back when you first had the thought that you should write one. And you're wrong to let excuses make you think you can't do it now.
You're wrong to eat potato chips for breakfast. Your ass will NOT thank you for this in years to come.
You're wrong to not take an occasional leap of faith.
You're wrong to close yourself off from the friends and family who love you the most.
And most importantly, you're wrong to second guess your feelings, sell yourself short, put yourself last, and behave in a ridiculously martyr-ish fashion. Nobody notices but you.
Now go live our life.
Love,
Older, wiser me
Oh, MJ. I've been wrong in SO MANY of these same ways. The sad thing is that if someone had told me back then that I was wrong, I most likely wouldn't have listened and would have done what I was gonna do anyway.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you're right - I wouldn't have listened anyway. But the whole hindsight thing is really amazing in it's clarity, isn't it?
DeleteI love this post! I wish I could go back and tell me younger self all the ways she did the wrong thing, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have listened.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! It's amazing how much we thought we knew when we were younger, isn't it?
DeleteThis post resonates so much and to think, back then, I thought I knew EVERYTHING.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! I think that if I even knew half as much then as I thought I did, I could have ruled the world.
DeleteThis is very much what my post would have been like had I done this prompt....
ReplyDeleteIt seems to be a common theme, doesn't it? Thanks for your comment!
DeleteIt's OK to be wrong sometimes. How else can we learn life's lessons? Great post. xo
ReplyDeleteI'm sure all those mistakes in my youth helped build character, right? At least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself. Thanks for your comment!
DeleteI love that you just couldn't keep your mouth shut after just two words. Haha! And I'm glad you didn't. Too bad our current selves weren't around to correctly advise our past selves. Although our past selves probably would have rolled our eyes at our current selves. Still, great advice!
ReplyDeleteI've never been known for my... brevity ;) And you're so right - I would have never taken my own advice, or anyone else's for that matter.
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