If You Were to Go Back in Time…

I’ve been asked to speak at a local youth group, comprised primarily of teenagers. I’ve been thinking about what I would say… it’s been a long time since I was a teenager. If you were to go back in time and speak with the teenager you, what three things would you say to the teenager that you were?

If I were to go back in time and speak with the teenager Jane, I would tell her:

There are times when you will feel alone, when you can be with a crowd of people and feel as if you are by yourself. These are the times that you find the opportunity to get to know the most important person in the world that you must get to know – yourself. Many people become afraid of these times, write off precious moments of solitude as loneliness, and run away or drown out those quiet moments with chatter. These moments of opportunity to be with yourself is how you come know who you are. These are the times when your trust grows in your being in the world.

When you were young, you were probably told to “Listen”: to your parents, to your teachers, to authority figures. Listening is one of the most important skills you can acquire in this world. You will find that one of the most important voices you can learn to tune into is your own true voice. Your true voice is different from the voice of your parents or your teachers or your friends telling you what to do or how to live. This true voice is something that speaks to you if you are willing to listen. This voice becomes your guide and compass for what is important for you in life. This true voice shares with you the reason why you are here. This true voice reminds you to always hold onto yourself no matter how difficult life sometimes seems, during times when you don’t believe pain will end. This true voice reminds you that you are worth something because you are you and you exist.

Finally, one of the most important jobs you can ever do in your life is to uncover what you love to do. Sometimes you will hear this referred as, “finding your passion.” What you truly love to do is not the same as what you were told by other people to pursue, and in fact, you already know what you love to do from a very young age: think back to when you were ten years old and how you played. You CAN be successful and gain abundance by doing what you love. Corollary: Spend your time discovering ways to gain abundance from doing what you love, not listening to people keen on convincing you to “play it safe”.

What three things would you tell your teenager self? I’m tagging:
David St. Lawrence – emailed separately
Alan – Posted Here
Steve Olson
William Jones
Urban Monk – emailed separately
Tomas
Nick Smith
Dave Prouhet
Steve Woodruff
Yvonne Kao – Posted Here

Yea, I know bloggers usually only tag 5 people – but I really do want to know what these bloggers think, so I’ll be greedy on this one

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