What would you change? What would you warn against? What mattered and what didn't?
Some of the many questions we think about when reflecting back on our lives. How would we do it better?
Is there a way to do it better? Was doing our best the best way?
What if we could tell our younger self the truth? What would we say in a quick message to let that child know... about everything yet to come?
Redditor BabyPapayas wanted to hear about what wisdom we all have to share with our past selves, so they asked:
"You meet 10 year old you. You have 10 seconds only. What do you say?"
I want 10 year old me to hear... "BE STRONGER. BE KINDER. DON'T DRINK. SMILE MORE!"
That's just me.
Seriously?!
"Don't pee in that mail box for 20 bucks it's not worth the butt beating." ~ patchman101
GiphyHealth First
"To go tell mom to stay regular with her breast cancer screenings because it could save her life. It never gets any easier." ~ GlitteringBrother880
"I'm on the same boat as you. What I wouldn't do for a time machine :/ lost my mom two months ago. She fought breast cancer for ten years after they caught it at stage 4. I imagine what it could have been like if she caught it at stage 0/1." ~ DaughterOfWarlords
Buy/Sell
"Buy Bitcoin when it comes out and sell it in 2021. Do it or I'll come back and kill you in your sleep." ~ GaeOfHormuz
"People forget one important detail. It was a pain in the butt to get your hands on bitcoin and crypto when it first started. It's not like today where you pick from multiple brokers. You had to jump through hoops and I regret knowing it was going to become big and not jumping through them. Even a couple dollars would have made me set for life." ~ Nevek_Green
Bye Dad
"Go talk to Dad before he dies, you will miss him." ~ JayceeZooms
"Mine would be more like 'don't give up on talking to him."'
"He bounced when I was 3 and we could never track him down. He finally reached out when I was 19 and we talked like 3 times, but he was always drunk and kept losing his phone and getting new numbers. I stopped trying and figured we'd talk when he got his crap together."
"In 2018 I got the call that he had died drunk and homeless. I don't know that there's anything I could have done for him, but I know I didn't try. I know that he told people how much he loved his daughters. I know that he died alone on the streets with a BAC of %.43." ~ legendariel
Good Luck
"Pay attention in school, talk to your parents about depression, baseball instead of martial arts, and west instead of east. Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it." ~ MaximumZer0
GiphyAll sound advice.
Are we listening?
We don't have to just be 10.
Love You
"Stand up for yourself. Don't be a pushover. Avoid hard drugs. You're autistic, you don't have to try so hard to be like everybody else. Finish college. Appreciate the time you spend with grandma. You are not fat." ~ NoTomatoExtraPickles
GiphyYou're Ok
"You are NOT broken and there's NOTHING wrong with you. It's ok to not love or want to ever date. It's ok. (Contexts I'm aromantic and for the longest time I thought something to was wrong or broken with me)." ~ SilverSoulFox
"Ah you're ok. Yeah I do experience sexual attraction/desire but not romantic attraction. If asked I would say I'm Bisexual. But for romantic stuff nope notta. In general I'm Indifferent but when the romantic gestures/advances are directed at me I am repulsed... I catch on someone is being flirty/trying to get a date. I don't pick up on subtitle acts sometimes. 😅" ~ SilverSoulFox
Never Her
"Stay away from Courtney. For real every one named Courtney just ignore and live ur freaking life without years of depression and crap. Also, learn you're languages now." ~ Be-he-life
Bad Bloodlines
"Your family are a bunch of a**holes, there's nothing wrong with you. Don't try to fix them, they have no interest in becoming other people and there's nothing you can do about it. Get the hell out of there as soon as you can, you are a good person and deserve better." ~ Actual_grass
Read
"Read this 500 page book I wrote for you. It's advice on everything for the next 30 years, investment tips, life tips, sports gambling tips, etc. stick to the book kid." ~ SweatyGizmo
Tell me More...
"'It'll be okay.'"
"Just something that nobody really told me as my depression habits started developing." BboyTeddyB
Giphyi need time to reflect, as does 10 year old me.
So much to think about.
Listen up people...
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
@lpeterp/Bluesky
@FPWellman/X
@bobsbeatgmail.com5/Threads