Every time I watch the video below of Spock meeting Spock I wonder what I would do in that situation.
What sort of advice would I give to my younger self and would that hard headed youngster listen?
He had a proclivity for doing his own thing regardless of what others thought or suggested that hasn’t completely disappeared now either.
Honestly you would think that because I am talking about myself it would be easy to answer but it is more complex than you might think.
Or at least it is to me, that is because I am sitting here trying to figure out what advice to give.
Have I already encountered the greatest challenges and struggles of my life?
It makes a difference because I could tell the kid I used to be to just hang in there and know that while life may not always be easy, once you get past a certain point it is pretty smooth sailing.
That would be nice to say, now wouldn’t it.
What Life Lessons Would You Teach Yourself?
I’d like to say it is simple and that I know exactly what I would say.
Liked to say I would tell the kid to never give up and never surrender but then I would only be quoting Galaxy Quest and this is really something where I should use my own words.
So I need to think long and hard about what I’d say to make sure I was confident it was practical, useful and something that would resonate with him/me.
But if you pushed me to say something off the cuff it would be to remain confident in your own abilities to weather the storms, to take time to be present where you are and to remember your ability to keep going will always get your through.
Might be hokey, but sometimes hokey is truth.
Probably ought to tell my children to follow that same advice because it can work and is applicable.
I can relate to a bunch of this, especially the travel. I have done a bunch, but not nearly enough. The world offers so much and I just haven’t seen enough.
But I am working on it.
Had to laugh at your last line because that is precisely where I go when I think about all this. The hard headed fool got a lot right, but man he created chaos sometimes when he refused to listen.
I think that’s the part of the time-space continuum that Doc forgot to warn Marty about when he gave him such good instructions. “Don’t worry about talking to your younger self, because he won’t listen to you anyway!” 😉
Been chuckling about that for two days now, so true. Too bad we can’t take the Delorean out to test out the theory.
You know, I’ve often thought about this as I’ve gone through personal changes throughout the years (especially since getting married and having kids).
I look back on my younger self, and see a lot of good, but also a lot of assholery. While I don’t think I’d change too much – after all, we are who we are today because of who we were yesterday – I do think I’d offer some advice.
– Don’t be such a dick to girlfriends. Be on time, be truthful, and be better prepared to understand you’re not a great catch at the minute.
– Don’t be such an asshole to your parent’s, especially your mum. Yes, your stepdad will be a dick, but that’s not your mum’s fault. Love does funny things to people – ease up on the moodiness.
– Travel more. Like, really travel. Don’t wait until your early thirties to go backpacking. Live while you’re young, worry about work when you’re older.
Of course, whether I’d listen to the older me is another thing altogether… 😉