• I am much happier in my 50s than I ever was before- in fact, I was despondent for the vast majority of my adulthood. So I’d go back to pretty much any age before I turned 45, give myself the biggest hug, and say “It’s going to be okay, you’re going to make it, and you really are good enough.”

  • AnalogyAddict ( AnalogyAddict@beehaw.org ) 
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    3 years ago

    I would go back to the day of my wedding and tell myself to trust my gut, that it wasn’t just cold feet. That the embarrassment and financial loss of calling it off was nothing compared to what I lost that day without even realizing it.

    I would lose my kids, but maybe I’d still be myself and they would be somewhere with a mother who isn’t a mother-shaped empty shell.

  • DJDarren ( DJDarren@beehaw.org ) 
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    3 years ago

    I’d go back to 11yo me and tell him that we have ADHD, and to try and get things in place to help before the next 25 years of ‘coping’ mechanisms fuck his brain up.

    • Wahots ( Wahots@pawb.social ) OP
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      3 years ago

      I got a lot of enjoyment out of my childhood, but had some wobbles in highschool. I think I’d go back and tell myself to explore more of the world with friends, and not be so concerned about some of my insecurities back then.

      • Mir ( Mir@lemmy.fmhy.ml ) 
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        3 years ago

        I think as a child I got a lot of enjoyment as well but as a pre teen it stopped. I’ve went through something that taught me the value of the littlest things so I wish I had realized that earlier

  • nlm ( nlm@beehaw.org ) 
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    3 years ago

    I’d probably say something like… getting a degree in your biggest hobby might not be the best idea, working with what you enjoy doing at your spare time might harm that hobby.

  • Crotaro ( Crotaro@beehaw.org ) 
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    3 years ago

    Two options.

    If I’d go back, I would jump to around middle school and try to convince myself that dad doesn’t hold the true knowledge to everything, especially politics. It took me one Trump-term and a pandemic to realise that my dad has some opinions I really don’t enjoy.

    Alternatively, I wouldn’t go back for fear of messing something up that causes me to not meet my spouse. I can handle a bit of mockery by my spouse for my dad’s beliefs, but I really wouldn’t wanna have past-me not eventually meet her in the first place.

  • I would have gone back to 2003 and told 18 yr old me to join the airforce.

    I would have been on the ground floor of groundbreaking computer science knowledge. I would get free college and medical care. I could have been a security consultant making six figures 10 years ago.