I read sometimes about the advice people would give to their younger self, the whole "sharing the wisdom with yourself" thing. And I've wondered a time or two what I would tell my younger self. What kind of advice would I give the me of ten, fifteen, twenty years ago?
None. I wouldn't tell me a damn thing.
It's not that I don't have any advice to give me; to the contrary, I've got a whole bunch of tips worthy of being transferred to the me of past. I could tell me not to rush into those first two marriages, or to do a better job of maintaining PT standards in order to stay and finish off a 20 year career in the Navy. I could sit him down and tell him to listen to Mom and Dad more, and encourage him to not take up smoking. I could impress upon him the need to maintain his faith in the Ultimate Boss Upstairs, something that fell by the wayside a little while I was sailing the seven seas. But I'd rather not.
I don't want to tell the younger me anything because if I did, my younger self would probably miss out on the learning and growing opportunities I've encountered in almost 32 years, those things big and small that helped define me. I would want my younger self to have these same opportunities to learn something the easy way--by doing, and not by receiving advice from my older self.
And besides, I wouldn't listen to my own advice anyways; I never do now!
None. I wouldn't tell me a damn thing.
It's not that I don't have any advice to give me; to the contrary, I've got a whole bunch of tips worthy of being transferred to the me of past. I could tell me not to rush into those first two marriages, or to do a better job of maintaining PT standards in order to stay and finish off a 20 year career in the Navy. I could sit him down and tell him to listen to Mom and Dad more, and encourage him to not take up smoking. I could impress upon him the need to maintain his faith in the Ultimate Boss Upstairs, something that fell by the wayside a little while I was sailing the seven seas. But I'd rather not.
I don't want to tell the younger me anything because if I did, my younger self would probably miss out on the learning and growing opportunities I've encountered in almost 32 years, those things big and small that helped define me. I would want my younger self to have these same opportunities to learn something the easy way--by doing, and not by receiving advice from my older self.
And besides, I wouldn't listen to my own advice anyways; I never do now!