Daily writing prompt

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

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Don’t waste a minute worried about the bullies who pushed you into lockers– they have their own issues and might have reached the height of their power and influence already, in high school.

Read between the lines of the cynicism and nostalgia and pay attention to the practical advice given by your elders. Learn about money management and property values, practice piano and guitar to the point of proficiency. Pay attention to politics, develop a knack for detecting BS.

Learn your way around a lathe, and a woodshop in general. Don’t go to college unless you have some semblance of a plan for what comes afterwards. Value every minute you get to spend with family and friends. Be endlessly curious, exercise regularly, don’t eat junk, believe in yourself, and find a good therapist.

Don’t fear failure.

And don’t get discouraged– the love of a good woman is in the cards.

Daily writing prompt

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

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First off, I’d teach my teenage self to feel a pang of sympathy for the upperclassmen who pushed me into lockers between classes, since they may have already reached the zenith of their lifelong influence and notoriety.

As great an experience as college was, I might tell myself to look into a trade– maybe electrician– and forego the four years of higher education that was part and parcel of post-high school planning at the time. Maybe I would have gone to Vo-Tech, so I could study meteorology, if that was something offered. Maybe I would have ended up in college anyway, but better focused and more purposeful.

I’d tell myself to pay closer attention to and take to heart anyone who said to study hard, pay attention to the classes I take and whatever curriculum options might have been available at the time. I’d take my finances seriously! Maybe I would have studied the stock market more closely, learned how to invest and take calculated risks, buy some land as an investment, develop a certain financial acumen.

I would have insisted on guitar lessons. I’d have focused more intently on physical fitness, to the point of developing some lifelong habits. I’d have eaten better. I’d have listened more closely to the stories my elders were telling. I’d have told myself to learn as many words as possible, and how to use them to make a point and convey meaning.

Knowing what I know now, I’d tell myself to take certain things and people more seriously, to appreciate them in real time. I was a bit aimless, and still am.