People Share The Three Word Message They'd Share With Their 13-Year-Old Self

Health - Your Teeth

"Brush your teeth."

- mynameisusama

"My teeth feel so much better since I started flossing after every meal a couple years ago."

"I floss after every meal I eat at home and it's a huge improvement."

- Zerilentix

"Can I show them my teeth as well? My 13 year old self wouldn't give a feck what my 30 year old self says unless I give physical examples. My teeth are, unfortunately, great examples of why."

- Andminus

Health - Don't

" 'Don't smoke, dumbass' "

"I smoked from 14 to 30. I tried quitting about 12 times and it never took."

"Then I talked to my doctor and she had me try a medication. After two or three weeks I didn't want to smoke. I finished the full two months prescription and have been nicotine free for six years."

"Don't give up. It is possible to quit, you just need to keep trying until you find what's right for you."

"Even if you can't quit completely, just try smoking less often."

- chef_in_va

"I told my Dad not to smoke every single day growing up."

"I used to throw fits when I was a kid because I knew how bad it was for him and I had watched my grandmother die from it at 64."

"He's made it to 73, but he virtually immobile due to COPD."

- AKSupplyLife

Wealth - Invest

"Invest Amazon 2003"

- uncaringbear

"Ah yes, because 13 year old who just hears an adult stranger saying 'invest amazon 2003' is totally going to start investing their pocket money in that."

- FartingBob

"You heavily invest in the Amazon rainforest only to have 70% of it destroyed by 2030."

"You are destitute."

- captaingigglesworth

Wealth - A Little Slap

" 'No student loans.' "

"Then I'd slap myself to drive the point home."

- TravelingGleeman87

"And for me, a double slap—'Don’t ever co-sign!!' ”

- Sarcastic_babs

Happiness - Jeff

"DON'T MARRY JEFF"

- AlmostAlwaysADR

"This is mine too, and it’s the same name. Jeff is a prick."

- noimneverserious

"I seriously dislike every person I've met named Jeff. It's incredible."

"My born again Christian uncle, a co-worker at a movie theater who was a close friend and then stabbed me in the back, a co-worker I had about two years ago who was so f*cking annoying and incompetent... all Jeff."

"I don't hate a lot of people but that's three people I do. Like 90 percent of people I hate are named Jeff."

- catsinspace

"Must be a Jeff thing. My 3 words would be 'Don't date Jeff' "

- [Reddit]

Happiness - 5 Years To Make A Difference

"Here’s what I’d do: first I’d show young-me my college ID pic that I took at 18 years old. I’m 23 now, so the image looks enough like me and enough like him for him to understand and believe who I am."

"Then I’d shout slowly but as loud as I can:"

“ 'Dad pancan 2017' ”

"Hopefully he’d look up what 'pancan' is, and see that it refers to pancreatic cancer."

"2017 is the year he got diagnosed with stage 4, he died 2 years later, but if we had checked even earlier we might’ve detected it sooner and at a smaller stage, he may have survived."

"I was 13 in 2012 so I’d have 5 years to make a difference if I got that message to myself."

"Hope I was smart enough at 13 where if this scenario had occurred I could’ve done something about it. If not, well… at least I’d know how much time I had left with him."

"Definitely could’ve appreciated him more, he was the best dad in the goddamn world."

- Philander_Chase

Happiness - Talk About It

"Talk about drowning."

"When I was 12, I almost died in a rip tide on a trip with a friends family."

"The family I was with told my parents it was nothing (afraid of lawsuit perhaps) but told me that they had told my parents the whole story."

"Basically, the lifeguard saved me at the last minute, and the rip tides were so bad the beach was shut down for days afterwards."

"My parents never knew a life guard had to save me and were told I got scared and over reacted."

"The ptsd from almost dying (I had given up and was dying when the lifeguard reached me) led to depression and drug use as a teen."

"If my parents had known I truly gave up and thought I was dying and was ok with it, they would have gotten me therapy and my whole life would have been different."

- sassycatastrophe

Happiness - 30s Rock

" 'Wait two decades.' "

"She struggled with suicidal thoughts in her later teenage years and when her baby was first born."

"Knowing that The Good Sh*t (tm) happens when she's in her 30s should keep her going... and hopeful."

- insertcaffeine

"Mine was '30’s are AWESOME!' "

"My childhood and teenage years were good. My late 20s were the hardest years you can imagine."

"My life didn’t truly start until my 30’s. And I’m sure to tell as many teenagers as I can!"

- iluvcuppycakes

"35 here, and this is the truest thing."

"I was a young teen mom who struggled and struggled… just one thing after another, homeless for a short time, broke, domestic violence, etc, etc… until my 30s."

"Finally got to finish school, I don’t literally have to work 7 days a week while trying to be a good mom, and I’ve found a great 'balance' ”

"I’ve been looking for something my entire life. Not anymore."

"I’m able to prioritize being healthy and I’ve overcome the negative body issues (thinking I’m fat no matter what), but I’m still young enough to look and feel good."

"In all honesty, my 30s are the best times of my life, so far."

"I have time to listen and enjoy my kids, support their hobbies, businesses, and dreams. I finally own a home. I can finally go on vacations. 30s rock for me."

- Embarrassed-Tap9458

Happiness - Kimmy

" 'Yes Kimmy California.' "

"My sister wanted to move to California near where I was living."

"My life was really complicated at the time and I actively discouraged it. My marriage was a mess and I was afraid it would make it worse."

"She stayed where she was. About a year later she was killed by a drunk driver."

"My marriage ended."

"I would do literally anything to still have my sister here."

"Maybe that message to 13 year old me would make sense when it came up later and I would know to say yes when she asked about moving."

- purplecrazypants2

Happiness - Choose Art (?)

" 'Choose Art School.' "

"My entire college career was based on:"

" 'This will let me earn $X. Do business, do CS, do Cybersec. It’ll impress dad and the family. Artists starve and money = happiness anyways.' ”

"Made really good money in the business world before graduating and realised how little my degree helped me."

"All I wanted to do was animation for other people and that’s all I ever dream about."

"Should have done what I wanted to do instead of being a people-pleaser for so many years."

- Bryans-Ghost

"I did go to art school, and I was going to tell myself the exact opposite:"

" 'No art school!' "

"I wish I had done something practical like CS because it sucks to be financially unstable."

- lacksleepdna

Happiness - Dogs

"Always adopt dogs!"

"They give eternal, unconditional love, and help you to learn how to regulate your emotions and take care of others. I always thought I was too busy to take care of a pup. I wish I'd known how much it would help my depression and anxiety and just how freaking lovely they are to have around all the time."

- MarbleZee

Health - Authenticity

"Stop copying others"

- Kyndron

"Younger you: 'sToP cOpYiNg OtHeRs'."

- kAlb98

"Yeah this really held me back from a lot of things in life. I felt like I robbed myself of a lot of authentic experiences and yes I am happy where I’m at now. I have a daughter a nice job. Sometimes I think. 'If I wasn’t trying to be like others..where would I be?'."

- Embarrassed_Camel825

"Like, career-wise?"

- Dymonika

"It wasn’t so much my career, but more my personal life choices. A lot of my “interests” when I was young were simply because that’s what my friends were interested in. I wasn’t, but I wanted to fit in, so I copied them. Took me a long time to find myself."

-- Kyndron

Health - Say No To 'All Terrain Vehicles '

" 'Stay off ATVs'."

"Rolled a 4-wheeler when I was 16. Left leg has never been the same."

- Cloudkicker91

"I work in a pediatric operating room in an area where atvs are popular. Anytime the weather is nice and the kids are out of school, the number of add on surgeries we have for atv injuries is mind boggling."

"4 year old, shattered femur, atv rollover. 8 year old, broken left arm, atv roll over. 13 year old, atv ejection, emergency crani. Shattered pelvis, degloving of the leg, brain bleeds, punctured lungs... On and on and on. So much agony. So many kids. It's easily the number one cause of emergent surgery we do."

"In my book, putting a kid on an atv is about the same as giving an infant a loaded gun for a pacifier."

"I'm really only replying to you because I hope at least one person will read this thread, change their mind, and keep a kid out of the OR/morgue"

- YamGroundbreaking953

Happiness - Music

"Keep making music"

- [Reddit]

"There is taking a break to grow and then there are Darkages where you forsake your instrument and regress."

"They suck."

- CatOnProzac

"i needed to hear this, thank you bro"

- honkhonker22

"Ohh this one man. Hits hard on me. Because of fucking college I stopped producing music, it was my passion since 13, if only I could have listen to myself earlier. Depression messed me, I tried to combine both music and university but didn’t work out. At the end I sticked to college and got a degree like the rest. I felt i was different, I wasn’t like the others, i made music, art for people to feel better."

- mynameisdanii

Health - On The Spectrum

"You are autistic."

"That’s my three words. That would’ve solved so many god damn problems, knowing who I am"

"A PSA to other fellow autistics who struggle with it. Go get a trampoline and jump! It can rewire your brain. Also 15Hz beta waves help balance out the brain! Go try it out"

- kelcamer

"It would of helped me so much to understand why i'm so different. And I could of had a proper education"

- Mighty_Mac

"THIS. If only we had known when I was younger. It wasn't until I was a young adult that I got a diagnosis. Would have saved me from soooo many problems I was going through precisely at 13."

- Rawbbeh

Wealth - Pokémon Cards

"Don't trade Charizard."

- facepwnage

"I wish I still knew where my holographic Charizard card was"

- TexasToast9

"I just resurfaced painful memories"

- clubdon

"I'm 30 now for reference and I think it was early high school when I made an ebay account and sold all my pokemon cards for like 50$. At the time making 50$ felt like winning the loto. I'm pretty sure I had charizard along with many other holos in mint condition. Oh well."

- muchostouche

Health - Abused

"You were abused"

- Bepis_drinker_cum

"I've been on reddit for almost 3 years and just bought coins for the first time for you! THIS, I always thought my feelings were invalid and 'people have it worse' , etc."

- MortalLilith

"The 'people have it worst' it's still pretty hard on me. For years I've thought that I was making a big deal out of something that wasn't 'that bad'."

- Natsume-Grace

"13 y/o you: 'No sh*t, sherlock'."

"You probably knew what was happening, but was unable to deal with it (legally, at least). Not your fault man, and your nice username"

- KokuRochu

Health - Therapy

"Go to therapy"

"I finally went to therapy in my mid 20s, and it improved my quality of life so much."

- cornygiraffe

" I'm not sure where my life would have lead had I been medicated 23 years earlier. I'm happy where I am now, but I can hardly imagine decades of suffering were necessary."

- Pleaselobotomize

"This is so important, it's unfortunate though when your parents and their culture don't believe in it"

- CXyber

So what would YOU tell your 13 -year-old self?

And do you think you'd have listened anyway?