Im sure we’ve all at one time or the other in our lives wished we could go back in time to correct some wrong or take a different approach or step. Im sure right now we are all thinking about years or 10 years into the future and right now we are the oyr future selves, if that makes sense. But If time travel were suddenly on the table, most of us would rush to hand over a cheat sheet of winning lottery numbers or some stock movement to our younger selves most definitely, i mean its only human that we do so.
But when you strip away the fantasies, the real conversation with your younger self usually centers on mindset, paths not taken, and the regrets that linger in the corners of your memory. In this life i dont think their is anyone without so form of regret or the other.
If I could sit across from my younger self today, the advice wouldn't be complex. It would boil down to three things be more spontaneous, pick a different lane as a career path, and never take love for granted.
Well, for the first one it is just natural that youth is naturally wasted on the young, mostly because we spend so much of it overthinking. Younger versions of us are incredible architects of safe blueprints. We map out the next decade with terrifying precision, terrified of even single detour.
If I could shake my younger self, I’d tell him to loosen the grip. Say yes to the impromptu road trip, take the unexpected invitation and please stop calculating every single step. Life isn't a spreadsheet to be balanced, it’s an experiment, live a little so that you have stories to tell, stories are what makes us as a people. It is from those stories or experiences that you “become” a certain type of person, you learn form those experiences good or bad, it doesn’t matter as long as you come out on the other side of the tunnel, you can always go again.
Looking back, the professional and academic path i chose in my teen was a reflection of what i thought would please other people in my life and not what i actually had passion for and so If I had a doover, I would point my younger self toward the rigorous, structured demands of a hard science profession or as a second option i will join the military.
Why? Because both paths forge a distinct kind of mental armor. Whether it’s the systematic problem solving of the sciences or the resilience, grit, and brotherhood i believe can be found in service, those environments teach you how to operate under pressure. They strip away excuses and build a foundation of competence and discipline needed in life.
My 3rd and final is the one that stings the most. When you’re young, validation is cheap and it kinda feels infinite. You assume that genuine affection, someone looking at you with complete sincerity and adoration is a permanent fixture in your landscape. Well.......It isn't.
If I could go back, I’d grab that younger version of myself by the shoulders and tell him to wake up. I’d tell him not to be blinded by the illusion of better options. Sincerity is rare, and a heart that chooses you before you've even figured out who you are is rare and my mistake in taking that for granted is a mistake i made because people do move on, and some doors, once closed, stay shut forever. This is for the girl that once truly loved me and i kinda took it for granted, ive moved on now but somewhere in the depths of me, i still ask “what could have been” or “what if”
Of course, the cruel beauty of wisdom is that it only arrives after you've paid the full price for lacking it. We can’t rewrite the past but i hope we can learn from it.
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From @sandef