Present Wisdom for Present Success

Photo Cred: Brittany Scales Studios

We've all seen the question asked before, "What would you tell your teenage self if you could go back in time?" I've sometimes thought this was a counter productive question, we all know hindsight is 20/20 and I'd hate to ask a question that stirs up regret. However, what I've come to realize is this question also has the power to offer our present selves that same advice, simply in now knowing what would have been best for us in the past. Wouldn't those same things apply today? So I decided to ask some of my friends on Twitter & Facebook to get some insight onto what they would tell their teenage self. Here are some of those responses:

"To TRY. Failure isn't as horrible as I made it to be, it shouldn't have prevented me from trying new things."

"Be yourself."

"You will make mistakes, and you will get into trouble, but you will also get past them and learn from them."

"You deserve the best, quit sabotaging yourself."

"Life is only as hard as you imagine it to be."

"Be true to what you feel, believe and you'll be just fine."

"The exact same thing my parents told me."

"Don't be shy of girls. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Don't wait to pursue your dreams and don't let anyone or anything get in the way of them.. EVER."

I made sure not to specify, "what advice would you give yourself," instead I left it broad and asked what they would tell themselves, and even still the majority of replies were advice, or even the wisdom gained over time. Why is this? Because it all comes down to the fact that our lives are evolving, always. We are always learning new things, growing, and adapting to life's changes. Next week we will probably have advice we can offer this week's self, something really valuable that we learned in the past seven days that would have benefited us had we been aware of it then. 

It's made me realize that all we've got to do is be aware. Aware of all of the lessons in our life, each and every day. Through the toughest moments, the boring moments, the simple moments, there are things we can appreciate and embrace that will allow us to move into even better moments. 

So what would YOU tell your teenage self? Why not tell your present self those things?