Advice for Those Younger Than Me
I have been doing some cleaning in my office. Purging really. It has been time consuming because it is mostly paper stuff and I want to read most things to determine their value. I would say ninety percent is getting recycled. The rest is either being scanned to put in my One Note in a “memories” notebook. Or put in another pile to read another time. One of the things I came across today was “advice to those younger than me”. It must have been a journal exercise of some sort — at least it looked like one to me. I thought the “advice” I had written down was interesting from two perspectives.
First, looking back as the person I am today, to what I wrote in September 2000, I always feel so disconnected from pieces I’ve written; especially if I haven’t read them in a long time. Secondly, most of what I wrote I think still applies today but I think my current self could still stand to apply them.
So here they are. Take what you can, ignore the rest, and feel free to add one of your own in the comments.
Advice for Those Younger Than Me
- Things don’t always get better or easier when you get older. Just different problems and different people.
- Always walk with your head up. You won’t look like a victim.
- Learn when you’re young. You’ll just have to learn it when you are older and it’s much easier to do when you are younger.
- Don’t believe all the bad things people say or tell you. Definitely believe the good things.
- Follow your own groove.
- Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up to do the things you can’t do now. Enjoy the things you can do now. You’ll miss them when you’re older.
- Don’t let “opportunities” pass you by because your fear is in the way. Fear is good for you. It lets you know you’re still alive and that you care about yourself. Just do it. Then you will spend less time wondering, “What if…”
I think there are little nuggets of truth here that could have probably been developed into better advice. Reading them now, they feel limited and I wonder where my headspace was when I wrote them.
If you made it this far, take the next five minutes, write some advice to those younger than you (or to your older self, you choose). Write it on a piece of paper or on a post-it note and stick it in one of the books on your shelf, or in one of the piles of paper on your desk (or wherever else you have piles of paper you haven’t looked through). Forget about it and wait for your future self to find it — don’t forget to date it!
Might as Well Add to It
This post has been online for about a week but it has been peculating in my mind, usually at night before I fall asleep.
Here are a few nuggets my current self wanted to add:
- Cultivate kindness. Not because of some sense of karma but because more people need to feel the kindness of others with no strings attached. We all benefit from it in the end.
- Be active physically every day with the sole purpose of moving your body outside your norm; whether it be simple stretching before you get out of bed or brisk walking. Do something.
- Don’t stop crawling around on the floor. It you don’t use it, you loose it. I’m totally serious about this one.
- Save money to spend money.
Cheers!
