Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Younger

Getting old brings with it the luxury of ‘perspective’. You’ve travelled so far into your journey and gained so much experience that life no longer feels like a burden. If you were somehow adventurous, by now you’ve pretty much gotten a taste of almost everything. Which enabled you to pick and choose a place to live, a carrier, and the partner you’re married to.

Having myself a couple years of experience underneath my belt. I’m now reminiscing about all of the things that used to got me worried, anxious, depressed, and borderline suicidal and realizing that they do not hold the same weight at all.

So here are some of the things I wish I knew back then that could’ve made my teenage years less stressful and way more enjoyable.

I wish I knew that I wasn’t being judged by other people 24 hours a day; that most of them are too preoccupied by their own worries to even waste a minute thinking about mines. Also, just because I’m focusing on some imperfections about myself, that doesn’t automatically make them visible to the world.

I wish I knew that it was totally okay even healthy to say this little magic word: NO. I used to feel like I always had to say yes in order to be liked, to fit in, and ultimately get labeled normal. As a result, I pretty much got taken advantage of.

I wish I knew back then that it usually takes time before real results can show up. That if I stick to it, pay my dues every single day, I will eventually reap the benefits.

I wish I knew how important it was to learn skills during my teenage years. Because now I’m way older and wishing that I could play the guitar, be a better writer and speaker, speak Spanish... though it’s not too late, but I could’ve mastered those things way sooner.

I wish I knew that how important that self-mastery was. That before I could conquer the world, I needed to conquer myself first. I have learned since to continuously study the guy in the mirror.

Lastly, I wish I knew that the challenges in my life were in fact there to bring out the best version of myself. Now looking back, though some of them were at times unbearable, I’m grateful having gone through them. They gave birth to this self reliant, resilient, emotionally stable, self confident, and very happy guy. I doubt that all this would’ve been possible haven’t I gone through those challenges.