There’s a pretty interesting Ask Slashdot article today that asks: “If you could send a message back to your nerdy unpopular 12 year old self, what would you say?” This is something that I’ve day dreamed and thought about for years.
If I could go back and send a message to me what would it be? My first thought was to try and convince myself to try not to get so hung up on silly girls. Up until I was 17 or so, all it did was bring me heartache. (none of the girls that I had crushes on ever gave me the time of day when I was younger.) But then thinking about it, why would I want to miss out on that? All those years of heartache and agony over these silly girls taught me a lot about life, and made me who I am today Why would I want to change that? What is it they say—With out the bitter, you can’t taste the sweet?
For that matter though, is there anything I could have told myself that would really make a difference? Would I have even been able to understand it? If I would have told myself to study more, start saving for retirement, or learn to play sports, wouldn’t it have just gone in one ear and out the other, just like when my mom or anyone else told me these things at the time?
Maybe I would tell myself to paint more. Maybe I would try to introduce myself to some great music, or artists, or tell myself to go read Siddhartha.
But more than likely, I’d probably just give myself a little encouragement. Tell myself that life is good, and to just keep doing what you’re doing and try and enjoy it. That things can seem really tough at times, but in the end you’ll pull through. And listen to your grandmother, and love her with all of your heart. To tell her that you love her every time you see her, and really cherish just what an amazing person she is.