Mature: fully or highly developed, perfected, worked out...
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Advice to the Young Me
Imagine....time travel has been perfected. And despite dire warnings about disrupting the whole space-time continuum, you are allowed to do it. The following restriction is given: You can only go back to one time in your life and you can only give yourself one minute of advice. What would you say? What advice would you give to the younger you?Would you tell yourself to be more grateful? More relaxed? Worry less? Exercise more? Eat dessert first?Would you warn yourself? Don't take that job. Don't marry that man/woman. Don't buy that house. Don't put off that doctor's appointment. Would you encourage yourself? Don't give up on getting your degree. Keep trying to get published. Be open to that relationship. I think I would go back to when I was 22, after my first child had just been born. We had been married about 3 years, and I had dropped out of college to work so we could get into a house and start a family. It was a time of beginnings and really entering adulthood.I can think of a few things I would say:
Savor this time while your kids are young and don't hurry them or yourself so much.
Start a journal and make yourself write in it.
Wear a bikini now. It's only going to get worse and you'll kick yourself later for being so self-conscious.
Don't ask 'what will people think?' as much as 'what do I think?'
Spend less on stuff and give more away.
You won't regret buying that boat. It will foster years of family fun and memories.
Don't waste time working at what you don't really love or enjoy unless it's absolutely necessary. If it is absolutely necessary, ask God to show you something that makes it bearable and even enjoyable.
Pray more. Read more scripture. Less rules. More love.
I realize as I read back over my list, that most of what I've listed is still good advice to myself now. Of course, the problem isn't in giving the advice--it's in taking it and putting it into practice. So, Self, listen up! You heard Yourself! Now just do it!There. And we didn't even cause any trouble with the whole space time continuum.
I know you're out there, blog readers! What advice would you give yourself? Special book prize goes to the most profound comment. Or the one I just like the best! Family members are not necessarily disqualified from winning, but get no special advantage either!
2 comments:
Anonymous
said...
That's some good advice. I would tell myself to focus on friendships rather than on boys. Be confident in yourself..you are your worst critic. Laugh more. Listen more. Worry less
While I haven't got much life to go back to, I'd think I'd like to have a chat with myself somewhere around freshman year of college. Dump that boy, don't date that one, don't tell that lie, don't compromise what you believe, be patient, write more, read more, don't compare your accomplishments to everyone else's, and really try to find some solid Christian friends and mentors, I'd say. It was a searching kind of year.
And yet... If I hadn't made all the mistakes I did, I wouldn't be who I am today, and I'm pretty certain this is exactly where God wants me to be. And had I not cried all those tears, fought all those internal wars, made all those "mistakes," I might not be so well equipped to comfort those who fell into the same traps. I can say with confidence that God makes beautiful the things that once seemed so ugly to me, and that is a gift that can only be earned by experiencing ugliness.
So perhaps instead I'd say, dear me, have hope. Have heart. Have courage. The grass is greener from my point of view.
A 40-something year old mom of two just about grown children. In my 25th year of a very happy marriage. Just started a new job as an assistant in the arts department of a pretty large (ok, really large) church. Now that my son left for college, an empty nester. Not grown up yet by a long shot.
Exodus 2:11 says “One day, after Moses had grown up…” The funny thing about that statement is according to the note in my NIV Study Bible, “He was now 40 years old.” 40 years old? And he was just then “grown up”? Webster’s defines an adult as “a man or woman who is fully grown up; a mature person”. I’m already moving into my 40's, so I’m firmly in the grown up category. Webster’s defines mature as being “fully or highly developed, perfected, worked out, considered, etc.” Hmmm…got some work to do there.
"The thing about a story is that you dream it as you tell it, hoping that others might then dream along with you, and in this way memory and imagination and language combine to make spirits in the head. There is the illusion of aliveness." Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried
Other Blogs I enjoy:
To challenge your thinking about what it looks like to be a Jesus follower: Jesus Shaped Spirituality
For "Biblically conservative and culturally liberal" poetry, photos, & book discussions mixed with a love of coffee & basketball: bittersweetblue or his new blog: arieljvan.com
2 comments:
That's some good advice. I would tell myself to focus on friendships rather than on boys. Be confident in yourself..you are your worst critic. Laugh more. Listen more. Worry less
While I haven't got much life to go back to, I'd think I'd like to have a chat with myself somewhere around freshman year of college. Dump that boy, don't date that one, don't tell that lie, don't compromise what you believe, be patient, write more, read more, don't compare your accomplishments to everyone else's, and really try to find some solid Christian friends and mentors, I'd say. It was a searching kind of year.
And yet... If I hadn't made all the mistakes I did, I wouldn't be who I am today, and I'm pretty certain this is exactly where God wants me to be. And had I not cried all those tears, fought all those internal wars, made all those "mistakes," I might not be so well equipped to comfort those who fell into the same traps. I can say with confidence that God makes beautiful the things that once seemed so ugly to me, and that is a gift that can only be earned by experiencing ugliness.
So perhaps instead I'd say, dear me, have hope. Have heart. Have courage. The grass is greener from my point of view.
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