Things You Might Tell Your Younger Self if You Could Go Back

Source of image: LHSTODAY

• Nothing is more important than figuring out – and dealing with – your own personal crap;

• Your looks will only get you so far and they absolutely will not last. Focus one hundred times more on your inner beauty than on your outer beauty, because that is the beauty that will last;

Read more: Things You Might Tell Your Younger Self if You Could Go Back

• Love people for who they are, and not for who you want them to be;

• Buy second hand whenever you can. It’s good for your wallet and it’s way better for the planet;

• Keep in mind that anything you order online that has a ‘return’ policy is probably NOT being resold to someone else: most times, it is being destroyed instead;

• With the above in mind, buy local, or if you cannot, buy items made in countries whose values align with your own;

• Make ‘kind’ your default as often as you can;

• Get your money out of RRSPs – and into a more spendable, less taxable, more easy-to-pass-on-to-your-kids format – while you still have a pulse (a banker gave me this advice);

• You do not have to rinse your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. The new detergents work better if they have food enzymes to help them break down better. It’ll save you loads of time, reduce the cost of your water bill and it will be much better for the environment;

• Grow something you will be able to eat;

• Take good care of your things and try to fix them rather than replacing them, whenever you can;

• You really don’t forgive for the other person. You forgive because it’s just too toxic for you to carry that anger around;

• Whatever awful drama or tragedy you are going through, time will make a difference. Hang on…

• If you have kids and you don’t have a will, get one done up. In many places, you can legally draw up your own will so it doesn’t even have to cost you all that much;

• Re. the above: if you have specific wishes, write them down! Tell your loved ones where they can find that information. And review your own wishes periodically. You will be surprised how they change over time;

• Also re. the above: make sure a person you trust has Power of Attorney over your finances and your health decisions, just in case the day comes when you are unable to make those decisions on your own;

• Regardless of how important you think you are in a business or an organisation, you are easily replaceable (and soon forgotten). Almost everyone retires at some point. Whatever work you do, it may be the centre of your existence now, but the time will come when you are obsolete. Rare are the people who work until the day they die of old age. Make sure you have a real life to fall back on when you do retire (and start early if you can);

• There is nothing – nothing – human about ‘human resources’. Never, ever forget: they are not there for you; they are there for the system;

• Re. the above, systems are never there for you; they are there for themselves (and especially, for their bottom line). The best you can do is to be your own best advocate;

• Breathe. And stop to just look around, as often as you can. Leave your phone at home from time to time. It’s really, really beautiful out there…

• Living isn’t the point. Making a difference isn’t the point. Making your mark on the world isn’t the point. What did you learn? I think that is the point…

Patti Moore Wilson/© wednesdayschildca.wordpress.com

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AND… A FEW PREVIOUS POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE TO CHECK OUT…

• Musings on the Eagle
• Rainy Day in the City
• Little Girl

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