What would you go back in time to tell yourself?
Ok here are the rules: whatever you tell yourself cannot be centered around financial gain. Ex No: I’d tell myself to invest in Microsoft. No: I’d tell myself to pick 8675309 lotto numbers. No: I’d bet on the X team or X horse. If it’s to study to get a better job to make more money fine or to keep all those old star war toys just no easy gain.
I would go back to myself in 3rd grade, and tell myself to get to know my/your/our dad better because he’ll be gone soon.
I would go back to when I was 17 and a senior in high school and tell myself not to give up music. I decided it was better to pursue a career with a higher income than what I truly love.
I play soprano, alto, tenor, berry-sax , clarinet, bass clarinet, piano, guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, and drums. I was an all state musician, and gave it all up to bow down to the all mighty dollar.
I would go back in time at several points to tell myself to trust more people from friends to family and not be so closed off to them.
Fizz
Sorry for being so serious. I was taking a shower and all this was kind floating in my head.
Oh and stay away from that Bit..ummm girl we'll call "A" you'll meet freshman year of high school who will do nothing but be a focus of to many crapy songs and make you a cynical a@$!$%@ about everything by sleeping with you/me/ous and like three of your friends leaving broken friendships and hearts in her wake.
I guess I'd go back to about age 14 and say don't bother with the boozing. Also, that GUI thing that is about to appear and make computers seem less interesting? Ignore it and keep looking into beginning programming. Some really fun stuff will be appearing soon, but if the GUI defines computers for you, you are going to miss years of the cool stuff. Take some pictures of the places you like to go, because before too long, they will be all gone.
And clean your room. It's a mess.
I wouldn't. For all the agony, angst, heartbreak and pain, I would not change anything, because without it, I would not be the person I am today.
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I wouldn't. For all the agony, angst, heartbreak and pain, I would not change anything, because without it, I would not be the person I am today.
I second this one. There are many things I can think of; from taking better care of my ailing father to hanging out with the wrong people. However like Lilith said those things define who we are. Those experiences impact my decisions now. Without them I wouldn't have the wisdom I do now. About a 12 on my RL character sheet.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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I would go back to tenth grade and tell myself "Don't worry if they call you a 'f%!' for taking typing. Your theory that 'by the 1990s computers will be common in every home and a fast typing speed will be a great time saver' is dead on.
Also, when Deena shows you her modelling pics, don't assume she's just asking your opinion as a friend. She wants you, you big dumbass.
Take the f*~#ing blue pill. Tell Morpheus to take that red pill and shove it up his ass.
I'm guessing you'd like your steak rare this evening, Mr. Reagan?
Take the f@@~ing blue pill. Tell Morpheus to take that red pill and shove it up his ass.
Wow I thought Sebastian died. Glad to see you back.
Fizz
I apologize if it's a little blue:
Masturbation does not count as exercise, no matter how much you do it.
Listening to other people's advice is admirable; just don't listen to other peoples' prejudices.
It's better to put yourself out there and take your blows standing up than to shrink away in indecision and end up worse off, regardless.
Chief Technical Officer
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I wouldn't. For all the agony, angst, heartbreak and pain, I would not change anything, because without it, I would not be the person I am today.
Coincidentally, I'd tell myself to go cause butterfly-effect type ripples in Lilith's life. You know, stuff like turning a fan on extra-high for a couple of hours to chaotically change weather patterns and such.
I'd kick myself in the bullfrog and shout, "FLY RIGHT!"
I'd go back to when I first got to college and tell myself "Stop screwing around! This is your future, make it happen now! The real world still sucks even when you're hiding from it! Grow up!"
Unfortunately, knowing how I was back then, I'd sagely agree with my future self and then put it off till later.
Take better care of your teeth!
Don't join the Navy - you get seasick as hell.
:)
Stay away from Christy.
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Don't get a finance degree. Get an accounting degree--like your grandfather told you.
Don't party in college. It's a waste of time.
Do like that old dude told you in tenth grade--the one you said, "whatever, old dude...." to in your head--and learn as much about computers as you possibly can. They'll be very important in the future.
Follow that kid around, the one who helped invent that thing. Ask him frequently if those big kids are bothering him, and what he'd like you to do to them. Ask him, "is there anything else you need me to take care of."
I'll think of more, but if I start sounding like Polonius, somebody shoot me.
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I'd tell 18-year-old me: "All those girls in the dorm you think are cute but don't think will have sex with you? They will. (Lesson learned from a female dorm buddy two years too late ...)
I'd tell 20-year-old me: "For the next eight years, any girl you date you must break up with after a year, two years max. Year three is a be-i-itch, my friend, so avoid it all together."
I'd tell 24-year-old me: "Do not tell your boss he is an asshat."
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I'd go back to last Sunday and tell myself to have chinese food instead of pizza. }: P
I'd Go back to last Saturday, tell both of you to forget Takeaway and get yourself a Pack of Steaks and a loaf of Bread. Go home, Grill the Steaks, and Have Steak Sandwich.
Tastes better and is less likely to make you nuts.
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I'd go back to last Sunday and tell myself to have chinese food instead of pizza. }: P
I'd Go back to last Saturday, tell both of you to forget Takeaway and get yourself a Pack of Steaks and a loaf of Bread. Go home, Grill the Steaks, and Have Steak Sandwich.
Tastes better and is less likely to make you nuts.
I'd go back to last Friday to tell myself to tell you that we already have a freezer full of steaks. What dragon doesn't? Then I'd say damn I'm hot, then make a pass at myself.
Oh and we're already nuts.
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Director of Game Development
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Something else I would have told, (or is it will tell?) my past self:
"Whoah! Holy s%%*! I forgot I looked like that. It kinda catches up over the years. Nice! Oh, and forget this. Just pretend it's the drugs."
and:
"Oh yeah, I think that gas bill is late. You might wanna pay that."
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Director of Game Development
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I wouldn't. For all the agony, angst, heartbreak and pain, I would not change anything, because without it, I would not be the person I am today.Have to say, that makes me balk as well. I like where I am and who I am, even if it was pain to get here.
Werd!
from the ones I had drawn
Wasn't the best of paths, you could attest to that,
but I'm keeping on.
Would our paths cross if every great loss
had turned out our gain?
Would our paths cross if the pain it had cost us
was paid in vain?
Thanksgiving to every wrong move...
There was no pot of gold, hardly a rainbow
lighting my way
But I will be true to the red, black and blues
that colored those days.
Thanksgiving to every wrong move...
I owe my soul to each fork in the road,
each misleading sign.
'Cause even in solitude, no bitter attitude
can dissolve my sweetest find.
Thanksgiving to every wrong move that made it right.
"Take the blue pill."
Information:
"You will make it alive and in reasonably good health at least to this age."
Useful personal details about some people.
Advice:
Party more.
Drink more (but not too much at one go).
Have more sex.
I wonder if my advice would cancel my information...
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Don't get a finance degree. Get an accounting degree--like your grandfather told you.
Heathansson, thank you for that little tip. I have been mulling over accounting or finance for graduate school. You, some professors and the trusty Magic 8-Ball all said pretty much the same.
As for me, I doubt my thick-headed younger self would listen to much. If I could get anything across I would hope it would be: "talk less and study more. You will be happier later."
IDK how the market is now; looks kinda recessiony. In 1991, when I graduated, there was NOTHING. Even the guys with good G.P.A.'s were having trouble.
If I had an accounting degree, at least I probably could've worked.Somebody in finance might be able to give you better advice, IDK.
Contributor
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I agree with Lilith. There are things i wish I hadn't done, or had done differently, but if I hadn't done them, would I have ever realized that I shouldn't do things like that? Unh-uh.
But also, I wouldn't bother trying to tell younger me a damn thing. Other people tried to tell me, and I didn't listen to them. Why the hell would I listen to me? Waste of time.
Although I guess if I can go back in time, I've got time to waste.
Alternate question (for those of us who either wouldn't listen or don't want to change): What would you go back in time to tell someone else? (and, if possible, why? because I'm nosy)
Okay, if an older me walks up to younger me... I'm damn sure going to listen. When he warns me of the dire consequences of some of my actions, I'm going to follow his stern orders and extract myself from certain relationships and situations. Then I'm going to read the (knowing me) 1000 word advice document he leaves me.
The righteous physical beating old me will give young me will get my full attention, believe me.
Every week I have a time machine fantasy... if only I could go back and change certain directions.
Oh it's true, the missteps do help to define us, but getting raped by a zoo animal, or killing a man because he coughed on your sandwich, or unwittingly leaning up against the well-marked red button that launches a nuke... those aren't character building in ways that characters need to be built.
Sure I learned from mistakes and turned into the nigh unique being I am today (whoo-pee), but there are events in my life that likely ruined my greater plans for myself and reduced my effectiveness here on this Earth... and they can go @#$% themselves.
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Contributor
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If future me came back and talked to now me. I'd sure listen. But If now me went back to past me... past me would think I was a fraud, or a sellout, or something like that. And hell, he might be right. He would also think that most of the advice I had for him was not useful right then, because it would mostly be "Hang in there, because none of this high school stuff matters in the long run.."
As far as some of the things I've done being detrimental to my long term goals... I've had the good fortune of only screwing up goals that in retrospect were poor choices. Occasionally I do think about how I could have handled a situation better, and I usually conclude with "But then I'd still be dating that crazy girl, if she didn't kill me" or "But then I'd still be working at that job that was sucking my soul, and the souls of my family."
But I recognize that I've been pretty lucky (even if i didn't recognize it when I was younger.
If I could go back and change someone else's life?
"Julius, dude, stay out of the Rotunda."
I quickly looked back on things and figured there was nothing I'd want to change. But then I remember one simple thing I could have told myself that would make my life a bit better: "Don't step there, or you'll break your arm again."
Not the first time, mind you. The first time was funny. I was trying curling--yeah, the sport with the brooms and fifty-pound rocks--and made a beautiful shot down the ice that landed right on the button. I was so taken with my own magnificence that I stood up on my left foot. In curling, you wear one gripping sole and one slick sole. That slick sole pirouetted me through the air, and gravity + tensile strength - friction = you get a broken arm. But though it hurt like hell, everybody thought it was funny, and I like retelling that story. Because I'm the guy who broke his arm curling.
But the second time, six weeks later, tripping on a curb in my physical therapist's parking lot? Breaking my arm again just sucked, and I still have range of motion issues. So a time-shifting whisper of "Don't step there" would have helped quite a bit.
But that's it. Everything else stays.
Mike
I'd have to prank myself - as much as possible. Often I'm the only one who finds me funny, so I could prank myself and we'd both get a good laugh.
Something like telling past me to put a £1.00 bet on some hideously complicated accumulator bet on random crap. Making me write it all down and stuff. Or turning up to meet my past self wearing a full body cast and eluding to "the attack".
Then just before I was about to jump back to the future, I'd have to say something like "Whatever you do, don't-" *zzzt* before I vanished.
Hehe - that'd be funny.
tfad
I’d tell myself to lay off the cigarettes before I get addicted.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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I would go back in time to 3:30am this morning and tell myself "don't get stressed because your girlfriend is snoring. Just chill out and you'll probably fall back asleep on your own."
My life would be better now if I had gotten that advice.
Hmmm. I could hire someone full time to just pop back in time to instances in my life where I could have used the advice "You think what you are about to say is that last word. But it will not be the last word. If you shut up now, all will be well."
