If you could go back in time and talk to your ten year old self

[NJmaverick]

what would you tell them?


Me- I would tell him to take better care of his knees and proper excercise/rehab from the very beginning would have prevented a lot of problems. I would also tell him not to study engineering, but rahter major in business or some other people oriented field or maybe become a doctor (yes, I like that one).

[newcriminal]

1. I would tell myself the powerball numbers that will be pulled on my eighteenth birthday.

[Q3JR4]

41. I like the way you think.

Q3JR4
Seriously good idea...

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

2. I would tell the 10 year old BCP...

that these idiots at school that pick on you will not be happy when they are 28 at your ten year class reunion. And oh yeah, these little boys that are picking on you now? - they are going to be asking you out in about 18 years. And you are doing good with the music 10 year old me, its going to take you places. Don't cry about your family situation, God is going to take care of that. You are going to live in Germany for 3 1/2 years in Hanover. You have an amazing life in front of you in little BCP.

[MrScorpio]

3. The Mega Million lotto numbers for that week.

[Mad_Dem_X]

4. "It's gonna get much worse before it gets better."

"But, once you get out of school, things are going to really start improving, so hang in there, Kiddo."

[raccoon]

53. I would too. Then I'd say, "I'm sorry you have to go through this shit." nt

[Ikonoklast]

5. That 'growing up' isn't all that's is cracked up to be.

Play more, working for a living is over-rated.

And adults do not necessarily know what the hell they're doing all the time, either.




Oh, and find a guy named Bill Gates, and become his best friend.

[grilled onions]

6. So Many Things

Don't follow,don't be a leader but rather go your own way. Pay more attention to the wisdom of older generations(those seniors are packed with experience and good advice). Follow your heart. Start making the world a better place one day at a time. Read more. Observe more. Save more.

[woofless]

8. You will meet a gorgeous blonde when you are 24 years old.

RUN!

[NightWatcher]

15. but would you have listened to yourself?

[proteus_lives]

37. I'd tell myself to away from a few woman that are coming down the line..

"Stay away from the half-German, half-Filipino lady you meet during your freshman year of college! She's beautiful but she's the devil!"

But my friends and family couldn't warn me off so I doubt future-me would stand a chance. Sigh...I think at least once in every man's life, trouble walks in wearing size-six pumps.

[NJmaverick]

55. That's a good question

in theory though you should know things that would convince him or her

[HopeHoops]

7. Mostly naughty stuff I was curious about when I was ten.

And I'd bring some magazines along.

[hippywife]

9. Back away from the cheeseburgers!

Trying to emulate your father in the eating department is not an admirable goal and will not bode well for the future. :rofl:

Don't let these asses that will soon be breaking your heart get a foothold. One day you will meet the most handsome, loving man in the world and will marry him.

:hi:

[RFKHumphreyObama]

10. Where could I possibly start

1. I would tell him to make sure he kept healthy and regularly exercised and ate the right kinds of food

2. I would tell him that the next ten years were going to be the best ten years of his life and to live and cherish every day of it and live each day to the fullest and take advantage of every possible opportunity. I would also advise him to show greater sensitivity, compassion and tact in certain situations

3. I would warn him that, after those ten years were over, there would be a devastating series of events that would shake his faith and confidence in humanity, directly impact on his well-being and destroy much of the hope, optimism and idealism he once had. I would tell him to nurture strength of spirit for when that time came and to realize that, even in the midst of the deepest and darkest despair, he still had the power to make choices and decisions that would make his life in the long-term better than he could ever imagine. But I’d warn him to make sure he thought very carefully about the decisions he made because choosing the wrong path would lead him to a place where he could not have dreamed of in his worst nightmares

4. I would warn him that he would experience deep and devastating personal loss in his mid-20s and to make sure that he cherished every day with the person whom he would lose and to make sure he made every moment with her count.

5. I would urge him not to enter into a particular situation which, if he did, he would later deeply regret his behaviour and his actions

6. I would warn him not to take any nonsense from certain people who would try to drain him of any optimism and self-confidence that he had

7. I would tell him to be gentle with himself, to not be so hard on himself

[NJmaverick]

56. wow, I don't think your younger self would be all that happy

after that talk:pals:

[RFKHumphreyObama]

86. I know how to talk to myself

I remember much about how I thought and felt back down and I'd know how to phrase and word what I had to say in a way that my ten-year old self would listen and not feel depressed. I think, if I phrased it in the right way, that my ten-year old self would actually be very appreciative of the advice and guidance

[Fire Walk With Me]

11. You were right. 10 years old, 45 years old, it's still the same.

If you burst their bubble, they will want you dead.

[LanternWaste]

12. "Don't ever think that....

"Don't ever think that Styx is a good band. One year out of high school, and you'll see them for what they really are... that, and Linda Berletoni really was flirting with you in the library that one day."

[Haole Girl]

13. This is what I would tell my 10 year old self (if I could go back in time):

"DO YOUR MATH HOMEWORK!!!"

[Mojambo]

14. "It's okay to take chances." n/t

[mdmc]

16. I would tell the ten year old mdmc that everything will be alright

and to stay in church. I would tell the ten year old mdmc that the Ray-gun years will pass.

[_dynamicdems]

17. Do NOT, I repeat do NOT...

marry your ex-husband. Some mistakes do not need to be repeated.

:eyes:

[mitchum]

18. That I should fall down and hit my head lots of time...

because not being able to think very well will become a virtue

[Angel]

19. Stand up for yourself.

Work hard enough to ache at the end of the day. Love enough so that the people you do love know it. Laugh as loud as you want and as often as you want. When you choose whatever you want to do or be in life make sure it is the one that means the most to you.



Oh and last but not least..you will get old, get wrinkles and gain weight. It is life..you came into this world wrinkled and chubby..you will most likely go out the same way.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. "You're ok, but you're bipolar. Get a cutting edge doc who can recognize that." (Oh, and get some

help for the eating disorder that you are just starting to develop, because you are going to be as big as a house once you quit the puking but not the bingeing.)

[Chemisse]

21. I would tell her to set down the book once in a while

And go outside and enjoy having a young, limber body. Run a lot! It is so fun and you'll have fewer regrets when your knees screw up.

[pitohui]

22. i would leave her instructions for proper investments

in addition to the list of lottery winnings

not all of it would be remembered by a 10 yr old but some of it might be esp. if it was written down and put into my hand written diary which i looked at again several times before it was destroyed in my 20s

also i would put a copy of the list in some of my favorite SF books, since i was an avid reader of that type of literature in those days

the one lesson i have learned is that without money, all the education in the world for a woman of my class and background was a waste of time, all the hard work i did to get educated, yep, a waste of time, because of my class background, i just need the fucking money -- money is the power to get away from stalkers, money is the power to prosecute harassers, money is the freedom to live your life as you see fit

a 10 yr old doesn't need bullshit philosophy, a 10 yr old doesn't need "take care of your knees," a ten year old already has a mom

i'd give her what mom couldn't give her -- the future and the ability to make money by having insider knowledge of the future

otherwise what's a superpower for? to go back in time and tell my kiddy self, hey honey it's going to be allright? what a fucking waste of time...

[liberaltrucker]

23. "Take the cyanide right fucking NOW"

:nuke:

[abq e streeter]

32. I hope you're just joking...and I wish I was too

but that's close to what I was going to say but thought it'd be too much of a downer for everyone.Again, L.T., I hope you're at least partially kidding. I've just resumed seeing a counselor, and if you really are feeling this way, I hope you're also getting some help of some sort. Sometimes the one thing that keeps me going is knowing the right wing wants people like me ( and us) to give up on everything, including living; they'd be thrilled if all us liberals were dead, and if for no other reason, that's enough to keep me going for another day; just to not give em the satisfaction of there being one more liberal out of their way.

[applegrove]

24. I would have told me to make other friends.

[Jeep789]

25. Get a safe government job with health care and

become a hermit. All problems solved.

[HughBeaumont]

26. Reply from an older thread . . .

Go to school for computer science and finance. It will make your life a hell of a lot easier than your English major. Take all the math you can and listen intently. You won't have to go through temp hell and will probably be making a lot more. That is, until your job, like everyone elses, is sent to cheaper pastures.

Continue music. You'll be in a band and they'll break up and then you'll forget about going on stage again. You enjoyed it immensely. You're happier for it, not slaving away in some damned cubicle.

Stay away from porn, or be moderate. Although you won't spend that much on it, it will be an addictive waste of time that will plague you throughout your college and adult years.

By 1986, save, steal, borrow, do whatever you can and put that cash on a stock called MSFT. Then in 2000, SELL it. Trust me on this.

Those jocks will stop growing, go bald, get fat and become unathletic and heinous. The girls who call you asshole and other assorted fun names will age quickly, some will STILL have the same hairdo they graduate with and for 90% of them, their looks will worsen as they grow older. You will be more attractive, stronger, more intelligent and more articulate than ALL of them. Trust me on this.

You have severe ADHD, possibly a touch of Asperger's syndrome. That won't be a recognized affliction until 1994, but you have it. This is why high school classes and some of college will be a low-grade-point-average nightmare. Get study guides and start doing exercises to help you concentrate.

In 1988, you'll meet a girl at a football game called Rosanna. Stay the FUCK away from her forever. She'll be employed at the same place as you during college in 1989. Just walk the hell away PLEASE. She'll cheat on you twice and not give back that expensive ring your young-and-dumb ass gave to her.

In 1992, you'll meet a woman named Paula. Once again, damn it, STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM HER! Don't be fooled by her unique looks and hot ass. She's a HMB headcase who will end up being sick to death of you. Oh, and don't be afraid to break up with someone!

In 1986, you'll meet a girl named Racheal. Eventually, she'll have trouble talking to you because she's nervous. Be patient and stay with her. She'll end up as your wife.

Speaking of young-and-dumb, STOP thinking Alex P Keaton is kewl and vote for Dukakis, not George Bush. Republicans suck the giant corporate phallus and they hate your kind. Just because they're the "party of the rich" does NOT mean you're going to BE one of them.

Keep up the nerdy habit of trivia. It's going to make a wonky mormon named Ken Jennings a ton of cash one day.

Tell your sister NOT to date that guard on the men's basketball team from her college. His Jamaican drug dealer friends with cash laying all over the house like spare change should be a neon sign saying BAD NEWS, but it won't. This is your oblivious sister we're talking about here. Tell her to stay away . . . you know, unless she LIKES being a single mom until 2010.

[lost-in-nj]

27. 10???

no way


14
15

I would tell them everything


lost

[WCGreen]

28. Don't jump from dad to mom in the divorce.

Ground yourself with mom, dad is an alky will always be an alky...

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

29. I'd say;

ignore those feelings and fear drenched thoughts, stay in school, believe in your own good sense and above all, no matter what, DO NO START DRINKING! :)

[Tobin S.]

30. You'll develop a mental illness called schizoaffective disorder when you are 20

Get to a doctor as soon as the symptoms start. If you don't you'll spend ten years in hell fighting the illness and suffering from the symptoms without any clue that there's something wrong with you and you need help.

[NJmaverick]

58. How are you doing with that illness now?

[Tobin S.]

96. I'm doing very good now. I've been well for 6 years.

And I take head meds, of course. But I sure would like to have that ten years back. I look at it as my lost decade. Maybe all the clean living I'm doing now will extend my life ten years to make up for it. :D

[Twillig]

31. How to Jerkoff, and

You're never going to be a pro football player.

Stick to what you do best.

[SKKY]

33. One word...

...Google.

[slampoet]

34. Leave the USA while there are still countries that will accept you for your future potential.

Oh, and don't sweat buying used synthesizers and drum machines. They will all be worth more than you bought them for within 7 years.

[TrogL]

78. Wanna buy some old synths?

I've got a Roland JX-8P and Korg MD-20 for sale. Or I'll trade you for a Korg Oasys (88-notes, weighted keys).

[mitchum]

85. This will make you sick...

I found a Moog Opus 3 at the Goodwill two years ago.
It also makes me sick knowing that I have now used up all thrift store good fortune and will never find anything good ever again :)

[slampoet]

87. I have had more than my share of finds, and i get more when I think there aren't any left.

Back when i was just a kid i had the opportunity to buy TWO Moog Rouges for $40 each but i could only afford one. Still kicking myself for that one.

But there have been a lot of others recently. EmaxII for 50, Siel expander for free, MPC2000 for 150, a Kurzweil K250 and Oberheim Matrix 6 for 200.


The deals are out there, although i spend a lot of time trading deal items to get what i really want.

[mitchum]

88. Excellent!

That means I may still find that Fender Broadcaster and first edition of the AA big book :)

Actually, since finding the Moog, I have also picked up three little practice amps while thrift store grubbing.
Every time, I say to myself,"Y'now, that would be a great find for some kid at a dirt cheap price" followed quickly by,"Who are you kidding? If you don't get it, someone just like you will snatch it up!"

[onestepforward]

35. Don't be in such a hurry to grow-up.

[proteus_lives]

36. "Invest in Microsoft"

And stay away from women who are pretty and cruel. Start writing earlier and tell that girl in the senior year of HS you like her. Don't start smoking and Frank G? Punch that motherfucker right in the face.

[MilesColtrane]

38. "Don't romanticize suffering."

It would go right over my little head...until much later.

[kentauros]

39. Me - "Your teeth are average."

"Don't listen to the dentist when he says you have 'great' teeth. Brush and floss every gawdammed day for the rest of your fucking life!!!1!1! If you don't, you really will look like those horror photos they show in the dentist office to scare you into taking better care of them. See?" and proceed to show all the crowns, laminates and x-rays of all of my root canals. If only there was a true way to describe that kind of pain, too...

[NJmaverick]

57. ouch

[kentauros]

93. Yeah, if you take good care of your teeth

it really does have a positive affect on the rest of your life, including your overall health :)

[brettdale]

40. Dont bet on the knicks

Sorry thats a weak joke.

[Q3JR4]

42. I would tell him

1.) That you aren't "normal" and aren't every going to be that way, but that eventually you are happy being the way you were meant to be. When you come out to our parents they aren't going to do anything but love you and wish the best for you. None of your college age friends are going to bat an eye when you tell them, and your grandparents will still be around to love you (even though their catholic-ness lies to them). You'll be happy to know that everyone who loved you before you came out loves you still. Eventually you will be so comfortable with who you are that you will be the face and the voice of a GLBT group on campus at the university.

2.) INSERT THE LIST OF THINGS FOR WHICH YOU WILL EVENTUALLY COME TO REGRET DON'T DO ANY OF THEM!!!

3.) Don't stop what you are doing (he'll know what I'm talking about) because it's working and if you do you'll end up worse off then you were before.

4.) Avoid the cute guy you meet online. It's not going to work and he'll make you hate the idea of being in a relationship afterwords. It will take a year to get over what happened, and it's not worth it and neither is he. If you can't help yourself, mini me, you should know that everything eventually works itself out but not without a lot of pain.

5.) Don't be a physicist. Get your degree in mathematics, because when the housing bubble pops (and it will), you'll actually have a real job in the state in which you live.

6.) Also here are the lottery numbers for the first drawing after you turn 18. Buy your ticket FIRST THING. After you win, set aside a good portion of the funds with which you will buy oil stock. When oil peaks around $145 a barrel in the mid 2010's, then you sell sell sell.

Q3JR4.

[NJmaverick]

62. Are there actually more jobs for mathematicians than physicists?

[TrogL]

79. physicists need mathematicians, mathematicians don't need physicists

They're also needed for actuarials, economics, engineering, other pure sciences, statistics etc. etc. etc.

[Q3JR4]

95. Yep, what TrogL said.

Q3JR4.

[Q3JR4]

94. Seems that way in the backwater

state I live in.

Q3JR4.

[SwissTony]

43. Beer is not your friend, no matter what you (are going to) think

You are going to be much more handsome than you think you are. You won't realise it until that beauty has waned.

Stay away from married women. They will find you cute...very cute...but just stay away.

When you are 24, you will go to an Ivan Rebroff concert where you will have extensive eye-to-eye contact with an extremely attractive young blonde woman. Talk to her and don't feel guilty about your current girlfriend who's going to dump you in three weeks. You will bump into said blonde three years later where, at a distance, she will rather ruefully show you her wedding ring while the expression on her face says "This could have been so different".

Edited to add: you will start playing guitar and flute. Don't give up when it starts going well. It's much harder 30 years later.

[Orsino]

44. "Soap is NOT a good lubricant, kid." n/t

[NJmaverick]

61. LOL!

[TheCentepedeShoes]

45. Three things

1) Stop fretting every time you watch the news or read the paper
No matter how things seem at any particular time, the US and Russia are not going to start hurling nukes at each other and end the world
Jesus isn't going to show up either

2) You are not going to be living with Mommie Dearest for the rest of her life even if it seems like that's what she has planned for you
It will often feel like the road of your life is bisected by one mommie erected Bob's Barricade after another
She will make an ass of herself at your dad's funeral (opps, maybe you didn't want to know about that) and try to steal the small but useful inheritance left you by your grandfather
She will not succeed, so use it wisely (hint: you will)
Study the subjects in college that most interest you and don't worry about how you will use your knowledge, the answers will come in the process

3) It's great to have a good imagination, but try not to live in your head so much
Friendships are formed when people share activities and experiences
It's hard to have a conversation on Monday morning about how great the Big Game was on Saturday night if you hadn't been there
Develop you social skills and learn to budget your time between work and play

[rurallib]

46. quit eating like a pig.

[datasuspect]

47. i would offer the following counsel to my 10 year old self:

-trust no one
-get them before they get you
-money IS everything
-don't study liberal arts

[backtoblue]

48. just play and be a kid.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

49. I would tell myself that to remember when I turn

16 that Dad will move us one more time. This last time is major mess. I should runaway back to where we were living because that is where I truly belong.

[NJmaverick]

59. where did you move from and where did you move to?

how did it become a mess?

[Blue_Tires]

50. a thousand things...not like i would have listened...

First; to stay committed to getting good grades, and even though I excelled in english and lit, to focus MUCH harder on the applied sciences...

Second; not to react to those teasing me

Third; not to be such an entitlement-minded little brat

Fourth; make myself realize just how hard my parents worked to provide everything for their son, and the true value of a dollar...

Fifth; to focus all my athletic and competitive energies on ONE sport (most likely baseball)...You never know--Even if I sucked in the major leagues I would have been set for life...

those are probably the top 5

[Lydia Leftcoast]

51. 1. Be a bit more rebellious, 2. Emigrate when you have the chance

2. Trust your gut.

[NJmaverick]

60. Emigrate to where?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

64. When I was younger, I had opportunities to emigrate

to Japan, Australia, and Norway (not at the same time).

I didn't take them, for what seemed like good reasons at the time.

Now I'm too old to be considered a desirable immigrant by any first-world country.

[PRETZEL]

52. get the hell out from the corner and interact with people

a lesson I learned way too late in life.

[Moondog]

54. I would tell him

that, on the whole, most of the major decisions he'll make in life with regard to education, career, and finances would be good, and to trust his instincts. I would also tell him that, notwithstanding the first piece, his taste in women would prove to be fundamentally flawed, and not to trust it. If he found himself attracted enough to a woman to pursue her, this would in all probability prove to be a major mistake, and not to do it. Instead, he would do much better by trusting the taste of the women that demonstrated an interest in him, and to pick one of them as a life companion.

[Iggo]

63. I wouldn't.

It would lead me to making better choices. And those better choices would lead to a couple of little girls not being born.

[JANdad]

91. thank you!

When this question is posed to me, I always explain that would change nothing! B/C I would not have the Wife/kids that I have today!

[Bertha Venation]

65. 1. Tell people until someone listens.

2. Study - you can be anybody you want to be.

[pitohui]

70. people don't listen because it doesn't work

study and spending on an education didn't work out so well for me or for any woman of my class/age/background i knew personally except the ones who like my sister used the education to grab a higher status husband

study and work hard and spend a lot of money on an education is even worse advice now when education debt is so high and careers so short

besides, no 10 yr old needs to be told to work hard and study, because everyone else is already saying this

make the trip into the past, you should make the effort to say something fresh and different that might actually acoomplish something

how many people told you to study? how is your life better for it? everything i ever worked for was erased in weeks by one violent stalker/harasser .... in those days sexual harassment wasn't even against the law ...but i'll never get my education back, i'll never get my chance back

i'd tell the 10 year old me some stock tips, at least if you have money, it might get stolen too (see under madoff) but you'll have the pleasure of spending at least SOME of it

i bitterly regret the years i spent indoors studying and hitting the books...all for nothing

nobody can be anything they want to be, that's a cruel lesson for most children, because most children won't be "anything they want to be" and instead their adult life will all about a feeling of guilt and failure as if being a child wasn't awful enough, now their adulthood is spoiled by the lies too

most people won't win the lottery. did you? is your life really all that because you've left a number of posts that lead me to believe that working hard and studying has still left you with the same challenges you'd have if you didn't bother and at least stopped to smell the roses

less study, more experience is what i'd tell the kid, except i don't see the use of telling kids any of this -- tell them something practical and simple, not a bunch of words/philosophy

[Deep13]

66. No one has a right to threaten you, or to torment your sister...

...or to drive drunk with you or your mother or sister in the car, or to tell you what to believe or to make you sleep in an unheated room. If anyone tries that, tell your father in detail or the police if he won't do anything. And if your step-monster tried to choke you at the dinner table, stab him in the arm with your fork.

Also, your mother is crazy. So don't waste time trying to win her approval. It's not her fault, but that doesn't change anything.

Most importantly, your nose has structural damage from that car accident when you were 1.5 years old. It needs to be Roto-rooted by a good ENT doctor.

Oh yeah, there's no god.

[Initech]

67. I would tell my 10 year old self that the corporate world blows.

[NJmaverick]

68. and then what?

[Initech]

69. Do something constructive like practice music or play sports or invent something.

[Beer Snob-50]

71. watch what you eat (you turned into a fatty with heart trouble)

ask your parents to get your teeth fixed sooner
and last ask out debbie dufour in the seventh grade (she would have said yes if you followed one and two)

[csziggy]

72. I can't decide - "Live your dream completely" Or "Give it up - it will only hurt you!

I sort of half-assed lived my dream, but did not dedicate myself as completely to it as I could have. And I got physically injured over and over and over, leaving me unable to do most of the things I love. But I don't regret trying to live my dream, I just wish I had committed to it more thoroughly. So I could tell my younger self to do that rather than compromise like I did.

If I had given it up completely, I would have had an easier life, physically, emotionally, and financially, so if I were going to live cautiously, I'd advise myself to give my dream up and live a more conventional life. I'd probably be in better physical condition, though maybe not since I would not have lived as physically active a life. I'd definitely not have a lot of the emotional scars I got and I would certainly be in much better financial condition which would be nice at my age.

But physically and emotionally I am a survivor, financially I am better off than a lot of people, and I can look back on what I have done and be proud of my accomplishments without being ashamed of anything I have done. Sure, there are some regrets, but not that many. So it's a toss up for me.

[Canuckistanian]

73. Stay away from Tracy Kennedy

She'll make your life a living Hell.

[sakabatou]

74. "Tell your mom to get tested for Asperger's."

"Oh and places bets with these teams..."

[frogmarch]

75. I would say, "Don't let

Jocelyn's uncle tickle you on her bed." Then I'd explain to my little self what sex, rape and pedophiles are.

[InvisibleTouch]

76. I would tell her about all the wonderful pets she would soon be sharing her life with.

Well, "soon" meaning in another 10-15 years or so, but none the less I'd assure her that she would get them, no matter how unreasonable her parents currently were, in denying her. I've often thought how cool it would be if I could take my ~8-year-old self into my current reptile room and say to her, "Look, these are your tricolor milk snakes, and your boa constrictors, and your lizards, and your frogs, and ... and ... and.... And be very sure to appreciate and enjoy them when you finally get them, because you waited a very long time." I remember very well what it felt like to want many many pets so desperately, and thinking it would never happen. To be able to go back and say "It'll happen" would be most excellent.

[TrogL]

77. Run away from home ASAP

[Bennyboy]

80. To stick with music instead of sports.

My parents loved sports but when you get to be a certainage and you are not among the leite players, then there is nothing at all past that 12 year old moment.

Music you can play ven if you are not an eleite and there is no age cutoff in music.

[CBHagman]

81. I like your ideas and your advice.

My 10-year-old self wouldn't be able to process this, but in no particular order...

1. When people say something, it's generally about them and not about you. (Thank you, Chris Dachi.)

2. Develop a thick skin. You will be glad you did.

3. But that doesn't mean you don't need to be kind to others and yourself.

4. Look at what people REALLY do all day in a particular job and decide whether you truly want to do that. Don't fall in love with a fantasy of what life is like in a particular profession.

5. Which means you need to get a good idea of what you have talents/abilities for. You may need to try a number of things.

6. Be creative about what jobs you try for.

7. Don't let yourself be talked out of good things (i.e., potential career paths) too easily. Conversely, do not let yourself be talked into them too easily.

8. Your parents and older relatives are people. Listen and learn and remember they're just grown-up kids with feelings of their own.

9. The people who say happiness comes from inside and not from another person are right.

10. Look at people as they really are and not according to your fantasies of what they are like.

11. Take care of your heart (the organ, not the emotions).

12. Take care of your teeth.

13. Exercise is not a nice-to-have. It's a must.

[wickerwoman]

82. 1.) Don't major in English... you can read novels for free.

2.) Don't choose your college based on the fact that it has the same name as an actor you like

3.) Study math... you're actually really good at it, you've just had shitty teachers

4.) Stop trying so hard to please employers... they don't give a shit about you and will throw you under the bus at the first opportunity

5.) Take the job in Australia, not the one in China

6.) Stop giving up on things when you're 90% there

7.) Don't sweat so much about being in debt... it's worth investing in your future as long as you've done your homework

8.) Don't waste so much money on things you can get for free from the library or online

9.) Don't get pets before you have a stable job in the country you want to live in for 20 years

10.) Love the body you have; you're not getting another one

[NJmaverick]

99. What sort of job does an English major get in China?

[wickerwoman]

101. Teaching ESL

There's a huge market and the pay is actually really good compared to the cost of living. I was fending off job offers with a stick there. Then I got a job writing scripts for a company that makes educational software. There's lots of marketing and copy-editing jobs there too, plus jobs writing for ex-pat newspapers and blogs. I had a column for awhile helping people choose their "English" names... they would write in with suggestions like "Pinko Li" (because she liked the color pink) and I would set them straight.

I'd totally recommend it to anyone who really needs a job and doesn't mind big, dirty city living. The people are fantastic, the food is the best in the world, if you get far enough out into the countryside, it's breathtaking. The traffic and pollution get really old after awhile, but it's totally worth it for a few years. Teachers get a lot of respect and there's a feeling of optimism and possibility there that you don't get in the US at all.

[ashling]

83. multple personality disorder at 10?

:shrug:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

84. Move away to go to college.

That would have really changed my life in a big way. Also, get into therapy and stick with it as early as possible -- that also would have changed my life in a big way. And finally, take the $19,000 you got when a relative died, put it in the bank, and don't touch it for 20 years. Yup, that would have changed the hell out of my life.

[Wapsie B]

89. Keep up your studies. Just because you're the kid no teacher can seem to get to

don't let that get you down. Study hard. Don't coast through high school and challenge the parents once in awhile. Shit ya got punished anyway for doing nothing; might as well have some fun. Don't take to heart the anger your old man has. Do the opposite of what he'd do and you'll be fine. But don't be afraid to pound the crap outta the playground bullies who torment you. Stand up for yourself. Your self-esteem will thank you.
Move further away for college, even out of state. Get out of that environment and stay out. Even though it's not as readily apparent as with others who display a high level of skill at something you have gifts as well. Some were just born on third base. You were not. Just because you're not immediately on the "A" list doesn't mean you don't belong there. Pay attention in the singles world. Listen and look at the signals women give you, and if you get a bad feeling about someone don't ignore it and carry on with her. Trust your gut instincts. They won't steer you wrong.

[JanMichael]

90. Start and stay with Goju Ryu Karate, learn piano/guitar and French. nt.

[Orrex]

92. I would tell myself to stop George Lucas from producing Howard the Duck

[old mark]

97. I'd tell me to take guitar lessons and fuck school.

I wasted so much time on formal education and I regret most of it.

A year or so of basic music lessons would have given me a lot more confidence in my playing, one of the few things I have really enjoyed in my life.
Oh, yeah - and DON'T sell those 2 old Les Pauls, or that '57 Gretch or that '70 Tele till at least 2010....They really increased in value.

mark

[NJmaverick]

100. "When I look back on all the crap I learned in High School... It's a wonder

I can think at all...."

[old mark]

103. I went to catholic school from K thru 12. They still have the nerve

to ask me for money - almost 45 years after I graduated.

Yes, it's true - I am the product of a catholic education:evilgrin:

mark

[Ohio Joe]

98. A few things

1 - Jack is evil, don't turn your back on her.

2 - Sue is a liar, don't waste two years with her.

3 - Screw Faber, go right to Chubb.

[AllenVanAllen]

102. Hey kid, Do yourself a favor

do more listening and less talking.