Today, my professor had played this video for the entire class. Afterwards, she proceeded to ask us, "If you could say two words to your younger self, what would they be?" Hands went up and the classroom filled with phrases like "take chances," "be confident," or even something as corny as "attendance matters." Even though not all 70 of us could share, we all had an answer. We all had advice for the younger version of ourselves because of one simple idea known as change. Change has become something so normal we rarely realize it's happening. We all have hazy memories of elementary or middle school that we look back at wondering what was going through our head. But soon those memories turn into days throughout high school and college. They turn into pictures and memories of our wedding day, our children's lives, even times with friends and loved ones that we have had to say goodbye too. We are always going to have memories we look back on and think to ourselves, "wow that was crazy" or "why did I do that?" So, why when we hear the word change, are we so afraid?
We are so accommodated to this idea of growing up. That there is a certain age or a point and time in life where we will know all the ins and outs of life. I believe that we never stop growing up, because I believe that we never stop changing. We are never going to have all the answers to life, but we are going to have the answers that we have learned through changing. No matter how old we get, each year we are going to have advice we wish we could tell our younger-selves.
So, what's your advice? What are the two words you wish you could tell your younger self?
I have a challenge for you: take your own advice.