My upcoming birthday has caused me to think about what I would tell a younger me if I could go back and sit down for a meaningful chat with her. The fifty-nine year old me has learned some important stuff I didn’t know then.
So here it is, twenty-one things I would tell a twenty-one year old me, if I could:
1. Get over yourself. Everything isn’t always about you.
2. You don’t know everything and never will. So stop thinking you do.
3. Life can get messy. Clean up the mess and move on.
4. Practice good attitudes and choices. What you choose today becomes tomorrow’s reality.
5. Always needing to be right usually isn’t. Don’t be too proud to admit you’re wrong.
6. Lower the drama meter. Laugh more. Save serious for when it’s really needed.
7. Changing/fixing others is not your life calling. Offering grace and love is.
8. You can still be nice to people who don’t agree with you. Just remember they might not return the courtesy.
9. It’s not the end of the world if everyone doesn’t like you. Enjoy the people who do.
10. Learn to balance work and fun. Too much of either is…too much.
11. Simplify. Busy is not always a sign of productivity. If it won’t matter twenty years from now it’s probably not worth your time.
12. Take care of yourself. You won’t be young forever. De-stress. Exercise. Rest. Eat Right. Smile.
13. Don’t worry. Worry is borrowing fear for tomorrow from delusional scenarios created inside your own head (it also gives you permanent creases between your eyebrows).
14. Comparing creates misery. Stop measuring your imperfect life against everyone else’s imperfect life. Enjoy the life you’ve been given.
15. Let go of regret, guilt and shame. It does no good to live there. God forgives the broken. So forgive yourself. It’s never too late to start over.
16. Don’t expect any person to satisfy your every want /need when the rest of humanity is just as flawed as you. The only one who loves you perfectly is your Father God.
17. It’s not God’s fault when others are stupid, mean, rude, disloyal, unkind…Forgive them so you can be forgiven and free of their hold over you.
18. Pain, suffering, loss, delay, irritation, frustration and the mundane is where you can learn and grow the most. Not what you want to hear I know. Sorry.
19. Life isn’t always fair and sometimes doesn’t turn out the way you hoped or planned, but remember God is with you in it all. He promised.
20. Pray more. Well actually, pray all the time. Your Creator holds the owner’s manual to your heart and He loves having conversations with you (don’t forget to listen).
21. The years fly swiftly. Relish each day. Each moment of your journey is the best part of now.
I’d love to hear what you would tell a younger version of yourself if you could?
I would tell my younger self to live by the Law of Christ: To Love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love all my neighbors as I do myself.
(You have got my mind really thinking about this now.)
Oh, and Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday, Diane.
Some great additions Marsha. Thanks for your thoughts and happy wishes.
We learn so much about life over the years just by living it. And when we walk it with Christ at our side even more so. Makes me wonder what we’ll be able to tell ourselves twenty years from now that we haven’t learned yet!
Oh, and your younger picture looks stunning, by the way, and you’re still a stunning, beautiful woman.
I would tell my younger self to stop looking for validation from others, because even if you get it, you will still be seeking it again, and there will be times that others will not or cannot validate you, even those closest to you, and you are left, feeling like a failure. In God alone do we find acceptance, significance, validation, and genuine Love.
I would tell my younger self that it would never be over, that I would continue to have to deal with hurts and disappointments, but to immediately recognize them as God’s Voice, calling me into deeper communion with Him.
I would tell my younger self that Faith is truly a Fight, and to stay in it, no matter how much I feel like I’m wavering or stumbling or failing, or falling, get back up. Don’t quit. You will outlast the enemy.
I would tell my younger self that the people dearest to your heart have the greatest power to break it. The ones closest to you will hurt you most, the ones you expect to be loyal and truthful and committed for life, yeah those people. The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. Out of it flow the issues of life, so guard it well, and keep loving and forgiving and praying for those who hurt you.
That’s just a few things I would tell my younger self, or anyone else who might want to listen. Wow! Thanks for the challenge. I feel stirred up to think about this now.