I would tell my younger self to have fun, enjoy the moment, drink in the beautfy around, notice the beauty, don’t be in a hurry, love more, be more kind, be more gentle, be more silly, let peop;e see who you are, let you see who you are.
I would tell myself to just keep moving forward. Trust myself and everything will work out just fine. Do not shake things up too much. Life will give you enough of that. Slow and steady. Before you know it you will look back and say, “Wow! Look how far I’ve come when I wasn’t doing anything except the best I could in the moment.”
I would tell that child
that you are not who you think you are . . .
that would give her something to think about.
You are not your ego.
I believe
that most any other bit of wisdom I imparted on her
would go in one ear and out the other.
We really all have to find our own path
in our own way . . .
I might have also told her,
that no matter what,
all would be well.
At least it would be something for her to chew on.
I was monikered a donkey as a small child
because I was known to be very stubborn . . .
I also sat and pondered things.
I would tell myself
that you are not who you think you are . . .
that would give her something to think about.
You are not your ego.
I think
that any other wisdom I imparted on her
would go in one ear and out the other.
We really all have to find our own path
in our own way . . .
I might have also told her,
that no matter what,
all would be well.
At least it would something for her to chew on.
I was monikered a donkey
because I was known to be very stubborn . . .
I sat and pondered things.
So many thoughts and so much wisdom here! I honestly don’t know what wisdom I could have imparted on my younger self. Life is…that is all. We travel the path that we have- there is no changing it. The one thing that I do wish was that I could have told myself that all would be well. I would be OK. My childhood is something I would never want to go back to…well for one thing…To see my Mom once again. As a youngster and a teenager, I had no idea of what was to become of me…I was told I was stupid, a know it all and no good. My mother had died…nothing worse could ever happen. If only I knew that one day…I would know I was not stupid, I am not a know it all….and I am a good person. Life has turned out well for me. I have many Blessings to be thankful for….my younger self would be estactic.
When I turned 30, I recall thinking that, while I certainly had not ended up where my 20-year-old self expected to, I had done a tremendous amount in 10 years. A decade later, I would pr0bably only add that I have witnessed tremendous changes in myself, others, and the world around me.
This isn’t exactly wisdom–at least not a bromide. As Barb C alluded to, I do not necessarily internalize wisdom in that way. But I hope that my younger self would understand both the capacity for change that is possible and the transience of time and–by extension–our individual existences.
I would tell my younger self to not be afraid. I would tell her to stop living in fear. The unknown is not to be feared.
I would tell her that change is good. It is not something to be afraid of. If something does not work out it’s ok to try something else.
Stop worrying, it is a waste of time.
Embrace life, embrace change, trust.
I would also tell her happiness is an inside job.
Thank you for today’s question. As of late I have been doing a lot of soul searching & this question came at the perfect time. Thank you.
You are loved always. I am at your side to hold you in moments of fear, I am there to console you tenderly in moments of sadness, and thank you dearly for allowing to become best friend to you.
I would offer to my younger self the truth that she was always the Beloved. That she was not alone. That she belonged. I would also kindly suggest to my younger self that she ask more questions. And although I don’t think I would have totally understood this as a child, I would encourage her to be fully present in each moment of her life.
I’m reminded by this question that indeed it is true that with age comes wisdom!
I’m pretty sure my younger self was offered plenty of wisdom from people with the perspective of more years than mine (thanks for trying, Mom!). That younger self needed to learn those lessons from the inside out–they couldn’t be applied like frosting on a cake.
All I’d have to say would be something along the lines of, “Whatever path you’re on is taking you somewhere and you won’t know where that is until you arrive. Pay attention. You are becoming yourself.”
From my current perspective, what wisdom would I offer my younger self?
I would tell myself, “You are enough.” I would urge myself to read Gibran’s book “The Prophet.” I would challenge myself to find the God of my understanding, not the God preached to me. I would remind myself not to turn situations into problems and to challenge my fears for most of the time they would be paper tigers. I would remind myself that anger is an energy I should use wisely. I would tell myself to spend more time with my beautiful children, play with them more, take them on as many adventures as I possibly can and teach them that they are also enough. I would remind myself that my job is willingness (open heart and open mind). Life is not was or will be. Practice the Presence and go with the flow. What is Is. Just do your best, knowing that it can change from day to day. Always remember that if you are in the past or the future, you go their alone. Life is. I’ve shared the Eschatological Laundry List on this site before and I will never forget when I first read it around 1980. It was the beginning of a major change in how I looked at my own life. I see a lot of new names contributing to the Question of the Day so I share it again. It was some of the most helpful advice I was ever privileged to be given.
An Eschatological Laundry List by Sheldon Kopp
1. This is it!
2. There are no hidden meanings.
3. You can’t get there from here and besides there’s no place else to go.
4. We are all already dying and we will be dead for a long time.
5. Nothing lasts.
6. There is no way of getting all you want.
7. You can’t have anything unless you let go of it.
8. You only get to keep what you give away.
9. There is no particular reason why you lost out on some things.
10. The world is not necessarily just. Being good often does not pay off and there is no compensation for misfortune.
11. You have a responsibility to do your best nonetheless.
12. It is a random universe to which we bring meaning.
13. You don’t really control anything.
14. You can’t make anyone love you.
15. No one is any stronger or any weaker than anyone else.
16. Everyone is, in his own way, vulnerable.
17. There are no great men.
18. If you have a hero, look again: you have diminished yourself in some way.
19. Everyone lies, cheats, pretends, (yes, you too, and most certainly I myself).
20. All evil is potential vitality in need of transformation.
21. All of you is worth something, if you will only own it.
22. Progress is an illusion.
23. Evil can be displaced but never eradicated, as all solutions breed new problems.
24. Yet it is necessary to keep on struggling toward solution.
25. Childhood is a nightmare.
26. But it is so very hard to be an on-your-own, take-care-of-yourself-cause-there-is-no- one-else-to-do-it-for-you grown-up.
27. Each of us is ultimately alone.
28. The most important things, each man must do for himself.
29. Love is not enough, but it sure helps.
30. We have only ourselves and one another. That may not be much but that’s all there is.
31. How strange that so often, it all seems worth it.
32. We must live within the ambiguity of partial freedom, partial power and partial knowledge.
33. All important decisions must be made on the basis of insufficient data.
34. Yet we are responsible for everything we do.
35. No excuses will be accepted.
36. You can run, but you can’t hide.
37. It is most important to run out of scapegoats.
38. We must learn the power of living with our helplessness.
39. The only victory lies in surrender to oneself.
40. All of the significant battles are waged within the self.
41. You are free to do whatever you like. You need only face the consequences.
42. What do you know…for sure…anyway?
43. Learn to forgive yourself, again and again and again and again…
I am thinking that I would want my younger self to give me wisdom from my past. I want it to remind me of playfulness, confidence, friendship, resilience, trust, and exploration.
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I would tell my younger self to have fun, enjoy the moment, drink in the beautfy around, notice the beauty, don’t be in a hurry, love more, be more kind, be more gentle, be more silly, let peop;e see who you are, let you see who you are.
Cultivate a grateful heart and much goodness and contentment will flow.
Hang out and learn from your elders! I wish I had more mentors growing up.
I would tell myself to just keep moving forward. Trust myself and everything will work out just fine. Do not shake things up too much. Life will give you enough of that. Slow and steady. Before you know it you will look back and say, “Wow! Look how far I’ve come when I wasn’t doing anything except the best I could in the moment.”
I would tell that child
that you are not who you think you are . . .
that would give her something to think about.
You are not your ego.
I believe
that most any other bit of wisdom I imparted on her
would go in one ear and out the other.
We really all have to find our own path
in our own way . . .
I might have also told her,
that no matter what,
all would be well.
At least it would be something for her to chew on.
I was monikered a donkey as a small child
because I was known to be very stubborn . . .
I also sat and pondered things.
I would tell myself
that you are not who you think you are . . .
that would give her something to think about.
You are not your ego.
I think
that any other wisdom I imparted on her
would go in one ear and out the other.
We really all have to find our own path
in our own way . . .
I might have also told her,
that no matter what,
all would be well.
At least it would something for her to chew on.
I was monikered a donkey
because I was known to be very stubborn . . .
I sat and pondered things.
So many thoughts and so much wisdom here! I honestly don’t know what wisdom I could have imparted on my younger self. Life is…that is all. We travel the path that we have- there is no changing it. The one thing that I do wish was that I could have told myself that all would be well. I would be OK. My childhood is something I would never want to go back to…well for one thing…To see my Mom once again. As a youngster and a teenager, I had no idea of what was to become of me…I was told I was stupid, a know it all and no good. My mother had died…nothing worse could ever happen. If only I knew that one day…I would know I was not stupid, I am not a know it all….and I am a good person. Life has turned out well for me. I have many Blessings to be thankful for….my younger self would be estactic.
When I turned 30, I recall thinking that, while I certainly had not ended up where my 20-year-old self expected to, I had done a tremendous amount in 10 years. A decade later, I would pr0bably only add that I have witnessed tremendous changes in myself, others, and the world around me.
This isn’t exactly wisdom–at least not a bromide. As Barb C alluded to, I do not necessarily internalize wisdom in that way. But I hope that my younger self would understand both the capacity for change that is possible and the transience of time and–by extension–our individual existences.
I would tell my younger self to not be afraid. I would tell her to stop living in fear. The unknown is not to be feared.
I would tell her that change is good. It is not something to be afraid of. If something does not work out it’s ok to try something else.
Stop worrying, it is a waste of time.
Embrace life, embrace change, trust.
I would also tell her happiness is an inside job.
Thank you for today’s question. As of late I have been doing a lot of soul searching & this question came at the perfect time. Thank you.
Be careful with that voice in your head. He isn’t acting in your best interests.
You got that right Don!
You are loved always. I am at your side to hold you in moments of fear, I am there to console you tenderly in moments of sadness, and thank you dearly for allowing to become best friend to you.
I would offer to my younger self the truth that she was always the Beloved. That she was not alone. That she belonged. I would also kindly suggest to my younger self that she ask more questions. And although I don’t think I would have totally understood this as a child, I would encourage her to be fully present in each moment of her life.
I’m reminded by this question that indeed it is true that with age comes wisdom!
Beautifully said, my friend. I will write this down in my journal … thank you!
I’m pretty sure my younger self was offered plenty of wisdom from people with the perspective of more years than mine (thanks for trying, Mom!). That younger self needed to learn those lessons from the inside out–they couldn’t be applied like frosting on a cake.
All I’d have to say would be something along the lines of, “Whatever path you’re on is taking you somewhere and you won’t know where that is until you arrive. Pay attention. You are becoming yourself.”
From my current perspective, what wisdom would I offer my younger self?
I would tell myself, “You are enough.” I would urge myself to read Gibran’s book “The Prophet.” I would challenge myself to find the God of my understanding, not the God preached to me. I would remind myself not to turn situations into problems and to challenge my fears for most of the time they would be paper tigers. I would remind myself that anger is an energy I should use wisely. I would tell myself to spend more time with my beautiful children, play with them more, take them on as many adventures as I possibly can and teach them that they are also enough. I would remind myself that my job is willingness (open heart and open mind). Life is not was or will be. Practice the Presence and go with the flow. What is Is. Just do your best, knowing that it can change from day to day. Always remember that if you are in the past or the future, you go their alone. Life is. I’ve shared the Eschatological Laundry List on this site before and I will never forget when I first read it around 1980. It was the beginning of a major change in how I looked at my own life. I see a lot of new names contributing to the Question of the Day so I share it again. It was some of the most helpful advice I was ever privileged to be given.
An Eschatological Laundry List by Sheldon Kopp
1. This is it!
2. There are no hidden meanings.
3. You can’t get there from here and besides there’s no place else to go.
4. We are all already dying and we will be dead for a long time.
5. Nothing lasts.
6. There is no way of getting all you want.
7. You can’t have anything unless you let go of it.
8. You only get to keep what you give away.
9. There is no particular reason why you lost out on some things.
10. The world is not necessarily just. Being good often does not pay off and there is no compensation for misfortune.
11. You have a responsibility to do your best nonetheless.
12. It is a random universe to which we bring meaning.
13. You don’t really control anything.
14. You can’t make anyone love you.
15. No one is any stronger or any weaker than anyone else.
16. Everyone is, in his own way, vulnerable.
17. There are no great men.
18. If you have a hero, look again: you have diminished yourself in some way.
19. Everyone lies, cheats, pretends, (yes, you too, and most certainly I myself).
20. All evil is potential vitality in need of transformation.
21. All of you is worth something, if you will only own it.
22. Progress is an illusion.
23. Evil can be displaced but never eradicated, as all solutions breed new problems.
24. Yet it is necessary to keep on struggling toward solution.
25. Childhood is a nightmare.
26. But it is so very hard to be an on-your-own, take-care-of-yourself-cause-there-is-no- one-else-to-do-it-for-you grown-up.
27. Each of us is ultimately alone.
28. The most important things, each man must do for himself.
29. Love is not enough, but it sure helps.
30. We have only ourselves and one another. That may not be much but that’s all there is.
31. How strange that so often, it all seems worth it.
32. We must live within the ambiguity of partial freedom, partial power and partial knowledge.
33. All important decisions must be made on the basis of insufficient data.
34. Yet we are responsible for everything we do.
35. No excuses will be accepted.
36. You can run, but you can’t hide.
37. It is most important to run out of scapegoats.
38. We must learn the power of living with our helplessness.
39. The only victory lies in surrender to oneself.
40. All of the significant battles are waged within the self.
41. You are free to do whatever you like. You need only face the consequences.
42. What do you know…for sure…anyway?
43. Learn to forgive yourself, again and again and again and again…
I am thinking that I would want my younger self to give me wisdom from my past. I want it to remind me of playfulness, confidence, friendship, resilience, trust, and exploration.
Love this reminder that our younger selves would have something to teach our older selves. Wisdom isn’t a one-way street.