Letter to your younger self

[Y_B]

I suppose this applies mostly to people in their 20s and over, but if you were to write a letter to your younger self (and you can decide how young) what would you write? What's something you wish your younger self knew or would have benefited from taking advantage of? Anything to avoid? or what about just some interesting thoughts?

 

As for me

Dear 13 or 14 year old YB,

 

I've had the biggest crush on you forever. Seriously. Relax and stop fidgeting, you look like an idiot. And please stop wearing baggy t shirts, you're not from the hood and you don't have a bling to match. Invest in a nice pair of shoes, be the kid with the pumped up kicks, but other than that you really don't need to try so hard to impress. Be yourself and things come naturally, try too hard and things work the opposite way. Keep in touch with friends who move, you'll miss them later. High school sucks compare to what's beyond and life's gonna suck at 18 when you realize you hadn't gotten any, but college will be a buffet. Look forward to that. Heads up though, a friend of yours will soon give you a once in a lifetime opportunity to get in his pants. Do not blow it (or blow it ), you'll be wishing it happened years later. All in all, you're all good to go, just relax, keep doing what you do, stay open minded and everything will be just dandy.

 

YB2.0

[methodwriter85]

Dear Teenaged Jeremy,

 

Phil is a loser. Stop trying so hard to impress people that don't like you anyway. Don't skip school so much. And get a math tutor before 10th grade. Kayla and Alexandra are actually pretty good friends to make. Don't worry about Sean; he'll turn out fine.

 

Sincerely,

 

Your 26-year old self

[Johnathan Colourfield]

Dear 16 Year old John,

 

Don't make the mistake that you are going to make. He isn't worth the pain you are going to go through. Don't go to that party and for goodness sake don't listen!

 

Get more confident by your own means and dont let your entire life depend on one person. Appreciate your family and friends more than you would if were with him!

 

Trust your family! They will never let you down!

 

An angry 19 year old you.

 

John

[Yettie One]

Writing to a 15 year old lad.....

 

Oi

Don't be so scared to be yourself. There are people out there just like you and just as scared as you. Together you'll find a way.

 

Talk to people more, don't keep it all bottled in, and study hard at school, you'll need it.

 

Oh yeah, don't be so scared to move abroad. It's not that bad really.

 

From and older, maybe wiser, but defiantly stronger Yettie.

[Cia]

Hmm... I think my experiences, good and bad, made me who I am today. I'd like to be a less crippled version of myself, though, so maybe:

 

Dear 19 year old Cia,

 

Don't return movies at 11:30 at night; a late fee isn't that big of a deal. Don't drive by that bar, don't take that risk; avoid the drunk and just go home. Oh, and don't forget to mail out those wedding gift thank you cards!

 

From, gimpy 30 year old Cia

[Abersloth]

Dear 16 year old Nathan,

 

Start keeping a journal. No, really. You're going to do some amazing things that you'll want to remember, but you'll forget anyway. Don't take anyone for granted, especially Tony (who you haven't met yet) and exercise compassion. When you meet a guy and you guys stick together like velcro, cherish it and cherish him. Remind him often that you care about him and do special things with him. Definitely keep track of that in your journal. You'll meet several guys like that just in the next few years, so stop worrying about never finding a decent guy and live. Especially when you get to your freshman year of college, leave your comfort zone and be outgoing. You'll have a lot more fun and make a lot more friends that way.

 

From,

Your Nearly 20-Year-Old Self

[Andy78]

To a 14 year old Andy,

 

When having fun in the hot tub with Max, don't forget the neighbours can see you. Close the blinds!

 

It was not the best way to out yourselves to the Munroe's.

 

Your 33 year older and wiser self

[Bill W]

Dear 14-year old Bill,

 

You are not the only one that feels this way, you're not evil or dirty and you do deserve to be loved. Don't hide in the shadows and let life pass you by. Get out there and find others like you and don't be afraid to share your love. You don't want to end up old and all alone.

 

An older and belatedly wiser Bill

[VictoryPanda]

Dear 15 year old VP,

 

You have a wonderful boyfriend and even if everything doesn't turn out as perfect as you promised each other it would be, life will turn around and you will eventually be happy. Stop being so shy and actually go out and enjoy your life. The only thing you'll ever regret in life is not living your teenage years to the fullest. Enjoy everything and let nothing bother you anymore.

 

Peace and love, 23 Years Old.

 

PS. You don't dress as cool as you think you do. Wearing hoodies in the summer time is not cool.

[Cyhort]

I have two.

 

Dear 4 year old Cy,

 

DO NOT poke your grandma's cat when she's sleeping. It'll hurt a lot and the blood will stain the wall for years.

 

Sincerely,

 

24 year old Cy who respects feline evilness.

 

 

Dear 15 year old Cy,

 

Don't let the rats breed. Seriously. I know it sounds cool and you're WAY to into weird animals right now but the smell is awful and they'll all just die of cancer a few years later. Oh, and don't get the bird. The ferrets are cool though.

 

Yours truly,

 

24 year old Cy who regrets having people in his room when it reeked of rat crap.

[myself_i_must_remake]

Dear BC (Friday, August 13, 2004):

 

You'll need proof that I am who I say I am, that is, that I am your future self, nearly eight years forward. You need proof that this isn't something Koren did (you'll be calling our mother by her first name after college for reasons you're not ready for) to mess with you, or to upset you into some kind of confession. You'll agree that the best proof will be the things that--as of your present moment--only we know.

 

So: you were bold last night, weren't you? You've been bold lately in general, and others have noticed. They might deride you for it (look up that word; look up all the words you don't know), but the truth is, when you are bold, when you are most yourself, is when they respect you most, regardless of what they might say. From this distance of nearly eight years, I can say that you will regret no moment of boldness (even if the immediate consequences are sometimes painful, they will always be productive), and you will regret and punish yourself for all those days you spend playing it safe and second guessing yourself. Have you met anyone successful who tells you to trust not your first instinct, but instead your second one--fear?

 

As I said: you were bold. You scheduled your party for a Thursday night--a strange choice. Why not for the weekend? Well: the Perseid meteor shower peaked last night, didn't it? It's not peaking tonight or tomorrow night. At North Chagrin Wildlife Reserve you had seen the sign advertising some stargazing event, and you organized a party because--who knows?--maybe you and Paul would somehow end up outside together, alone.

 

And that is what happened, isn't it? You were playing Soul Calibur II and a hand tapped your shoulder, only yours, and soon enough you were laying side-by-side on the trampoline (weren't your arms touching?) talking about--well, you remember. The meteors were great, and the fireflies too.

 

You'll tell him what you never thought you would soon enough. I know what happens, and in your mind, you think the obvious thing for me to do is to tell you how things wind up: is he gay? does he love you?

 

Trust me when I say it's best you don't know, and trust me when I say the best thing you can do is to tell him. Remember: you will never regret having been bold.

 

More generally speaking, things have been different lately, haven't they? You have more friends, you feel better about yourself on a day-to-day basis. It's hard for you, at this point, to see why that's happening, but I can tell you: you've finally started forming your own identity instead of imitating others. You could continue to do that and be very happy, or you could falter, and question yourself, and regret it terribly. You were dealt a different hand than anyone else you've met; what's more: you might not even be playing the same game. When you play cards with your friends, do you stand any chance if you play 7-card stud by the rules of rummy? Imitation is not the answer. I do not have to tell you your talents; focus on those, not those of others.

 

Lastly, and even more generally, a metaphor to understand the coming years by: do you remember the beginning of Kingdom Hearts? At the beginning of the game, you get the opportunity to answer questions from Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. The way you answer the questions determines how you level up: your journey might start at dawn and begin easily and end with greater difficulty; or your journey might begin at midday and remain steadily moderate throughout; or your journey might start in the dead of night and begin with extreme difficulty and end with ease. In the long run, you know, the latter is the best, even if it means you have to work really hard at first, it pays off eventually. You would do well to remember that.

 

Pet Cody for having brought this to you; he isn't a smart dog, but he's a good dog. In fact, he's probably a good dog because he isn't a smart dog.

 

-BC (Wednesday, May 23, 2012)

[Cjay]

Dear 17 year old Cjay,

 

 

I think its about time to act your age and accept responsibility for your actions instead of trying to blame other people.

 

And be prepared for college life, it is going to be crazy. But don't get too overwhelmed.

 

From,

Your 21 year old self.

[JamesSavik]

Dear 14 year old James:

 

When you meet Nathan, go the other way.

 

When you meet cocaine, go the other way.

 

When you meet Chris, screw him but don't love him. That's all he's good for.

 

Try to keep Travis around. He turns out well.

 

General observation: leave everything alone but pot.

 

 

Older James

[markycielo]

Dear 13 Year Old Marky,

 

You don't need people to tell you you are amazing... because you really are.... so just slow down...

and no... smoking this early is not a good idea..

 

Love,

 

21 YO Marky

 

*****************************

 

Dear 17 YO Marky,

 

Love her as much as she loves you...

Don't let her feel alone, ever...

Look at her all the time and tell her how you feel...

 

Getting that below average grade in Calculus is a good thing... just dont stress about it too much.. life is gonna get better once the whole honor student thing is done with....

 

Trust your best-friend Jo when she tells you you look cute with short hair... the lion mane thing was baaaaad.

 

Love,

 

21YO Marky with fantabulous hair...

[rustle]

12-year old Dude,

 

People don't especially like your humor. Quit trying so hard, and listen more. Put some effort into school, and not just your classes. The best thing you could learn in the next few years is how to be a good friend, starting with your classmates, like that red-headed boy with the hot butt.

 

Hang out with people you admire, not just like, and learn from them.

 

Tell your mom about yourself. Soon. She already knows, but get it out in the open, so you can move past it.

 

Get some exercise. Talk your mom into letting you take judo, and get used to being touched. But when Bill does it, cut off his balls.

 

You gotta get young before you get old.

[thephoenix]

*begin_transmission--time<<T*09:30:00:0000UTC.02.15.2004*LOC:City:Windsor**Province:Nova_Scotia**Country:Canada*fluxlevel43593*

 

Dear 17 year old self,

 

Do not submit your application to the University of Toronto. Actually, don't go to Toronto at all. Stop trying to waste to time thinking what other people are thinking of you and just let things come naturally.

 

Don't start playing WoW. You will know what it is when the time comes. It is very addicting and it will take time away from things you need to do.

 

Go straight to pursuing the dream job of a pilot. Stop trying to skirt around it because you'll just end up hating what you do. Here's a hint: look into Western Michigan University or Embry Riddle. The answers you seek are there.

 

Also don't...... ##ERROR:283923948## ..forge....t....to................ge...t....................

 

##CRITICAL_ERROR:disturbance_time_stream##

 

**end of transmission**

 

Edited May 30, 2012 by thephoenix

[Gregoire]

Dear Greg who is less than 22,

 

Your name is Gregory. It sounds more impressive and you force people to go through the additional syllables if they want to talk to you. Always introduce yourself this way, but don't be afraid of Greg or Bell or the dozens of pet names that you'll have to hear to believe. Go on as many adventures as come your way. Be wary of the consequences, but never stop moving forward. You were never confused and you've always known what you've wanted, it's not your fault if it's everything under the Sun. You're gonna fall in love, a lot, with people who reciprocate to the fullest. Just go with it.

 

You never stop loving her, even after you meet him. Yeah, dude...him. I didn't see it coming, either. That said, it is not waste of time to make out with girls on sofas or chairs or floors or backseats of cars or front seats of cars or grass or...well, you get the idea. Running the bases is part of life, just make that first home run count. Save it for the perfect moment.

 

Smile a bit, stand up straight, get into fights, protect your friends, and learn to accept help. Understand that you're going to be polarizing as all get out, but they make a saying for that: Haters gon Hate. Keep chasing the shiniest thing in the room and never settle. You get a prize...man, do you ever get the prize.

 

Dad loves us, we just need to be patient. Yeah, he hit you when you were younger, but he was younger, too. Listen to his words when he yells and when he whispers, he's never been the one to tear you down. He'll be deployed a lot and things'll change every time he comes home. He'll miss moments of your life that he'll never even know he missed, don't hold that against him. You have dark hours ahead of you and people are going to be so unfair, but he will always be in your corner.

 

Mom will alternate between being your best friend and being, well, your Mom. Don't try to understand it and don't let her break you. She can be manipulative and cunning and cold, but so can you. Use that, you have all of her best and most of her worst. Remember all that she gave up for you, don't ever take that for granted, but don't let it impact your worth. She has so many challenges to face, and it's gonna get scary, but she's never too fragile to hug or kiss on the forehead and she's not an excuse not to live your life, she's your mother.

 

You're not a bad kid, but you will get cut off, disowned, and made to feel alone in this world. You will bend and you will break and you'll feel like you have nothing left to live for. And things will never be simple for you. You know as well as I do that suicide is stupid, so I'm not worried about that, but someone needs to tell you not to go through your life punishing yourself for things that you can't control or things that you could control. All you can do is take responsibility and accept that what will be will be.

 

When you can't live for yourself, live for your little brother. The little dude needs you. For whatever reason, you shape the man that he becomes, never take that for granted. Don't lord over him, it makes it difficult for him to come to the light when he's lived in your shadow for so long. Take time to spend with him, adopt some of his hobbies, call him when you can't be there, and love the crap out of him. Everything that you saw, he saw, and even when it didn't happen to him, he saw it. He'll want to protect you, but you have to learn to protect yourself so that you can protect him. Be the big brother.

 

It's weird. I want to spoil all the best parts for you, but it's worth far more of my time to warn you of the pitfalls. You're gonna hit them and hard, really freakin' hard. And because you're not going to have many, I took a few seconds out of my time to write a letter to you. Because I love you and you are so worthy of love, but I already told you that.

[Elisabeth]

Dear 16 year old Ella,

 

yes, it is alright to go by Ella if you don't want people to know the Romanian name stated as your everyday name in passports to avoid a bloody nose. No matter what your parents tell you. There is nothing that you can do to look less foreign than you do and if going by Ella instead of your actually nice Romanian name saves you from encounters with xenophobe stupid people then this is the best you can do. It isn't your fault that these people are going wild about anyone looking remotely foreign.

 

Also yes it is absolutely perfectly alright for you to wear femine clothes regardless of your physical handicap. If your Mum badmouths you for that, that is because she is jealous, because she never dared to herself. Oh by the way, there is every chance that you will be indeed a good writer one day. That has nothing to do with living in a "dream world", it's only that neither your parents nor teachers have any sense of creativity or literature. Go and search their shelves for books that aren't business-related. You won't find any.

 

There is nothing to lose but your fears.

 

All the best.

 

Yours truly

 

31-yr-old Ella, who still introduces herself like that if her beautiful Romanian name might get her in trouble.

[Sympathia]

10 year old T,

 

Put up a fight when mom and dad want to move to sweden. Its cold, dark, lonely and most of the people suck in that effing backwater. If you manage to stay in Germany, learn English and watch out for your relatives, they are not as nice as they seem. While you're at it, tell your cousin to get the stick out of her ass and keep her pianist.

[W_L]

To W.L at age 11

 

Hey, drop the book on guns for a minute and just listen. I get why you want to daydream of huge battles, epic confrontations, and great conflicts. I do that too, well of course I do, I am you. Yet, sometimes, you got to let it go. One of the things that has pushed so far in life is our desire to fight, it will push you to confront bullies and get beat up without backing down, get you into a good school, and even help you achieve a piece of security in a world that is flying out of control. However, it is the biggest thing that will hold you back in life as well, You probably have already noticed that you like boys more than girls, but you don't want to accept it. You will fight that feeling for years until you turn 16 and something awful happens, which still haunts you to this day. You will think you had found shelter in God, but it was a crutch that harms people more than it helped. To seek peace with your sexuality, you can't keep fighting it, but talk to it and see what it wants and where you want to go.

 

Having an urge to fight gives us the ability to reach beyond what our physical limitations might not allow us in other people's eyes, but don't let it keep your emotions and empathy back. As you grow older, you will see a lot of things that will make you lose hope in people and even in your ideals. I won't tell you what those things are as without those experiences, we would not be who we are today, but what I can give you is two words: "Keep trying".

[Breeze]

Dear 12 year old Shelly;

 

Hi there; Yes life is about to get tough, but dont be afraid, nothing horrific is going to happen.

Dont talk to strangers so much...this has no good end. Stop being so afraid of life. Find your bliss and chase it to the ends of the earth if you need to. When someone tells you how you look is tied to how smart you are, tell them they are full of crap. You are smart and you need to believe that and embrace that. You are NOT the spare or the extra in your family, believe that.

 

All the love in the world;

your older self

Shelly

[Zolia Lily]

Dear 15 year old Erin,

 

Stop wondering who you are. Pointless question. Get on and DO stuff and it will fall into place.

Stop being so bloody scared of everything. What's a little humiliation or embarassment in every day life? Laugh it off. Then everyone else will laugh it off too and you'll be all the cooler for not BLUSHING over everything. Throw yourself into things and forget what FEAR is.

If you want to write, you need to learn how. Not the grammar / words / pen to paper thing - learning how to PLOT a story would be a good idea. Also, practice writing endings. This is a skill that you will need when you're my age. Learn it now and then you won't have to go through all my current frustrations.

Maybe get brave enough to fall in love once or twice? It's alright - being single is fricking awesome anyway - but it would be nice not to sometimes wonder if I'm emotionally or socially stunted in some way... Maybe even just make out some more. Yeah. That'll do.

 

Also - amazing choice in friends, btw. They stick with you.

 

LOVE your mysterious 24 yr old alter ego - Lily.

Edited June 2, 2012 by Zolia Lily

[Ashi]

To 13 year-old self:

 

Don't try to conquer the world, because at the end it doesn't matter. Everything you want will end up vaporized, no matter how hard you try. Just be a silly kid. That way you'll have a childhood.

[Dark Princess]

Dear 10 year old me

 

Don't think that this is a lie or a joke. I am from the future and our technology beats yours by far. To prove it, I left a Playgirl magazine for you in the special chair . Okay so anyways listen up this is important. Stop eating so much so we don't end up looking like a giant ball of mush in the future. Don't play with your best friend anymore he will betray you! When you meet a guy named Jeandre keep his number!! And last but not least don't let your mom marry a guy named Martin. Keep it pretty and sorry about all the heartache I caused you. Matt

[Houdinii]

Dear 14 year old Brian,

 

Your father is a creep. Kick his ass sooner than later. You'll save you and your brother a lot of pain ( and a prison sentence). Other than that, your cool, but ya should really stop chewing tobacco. One day that will catch up with you...