“What advice would you give to your younger self?” is something I read, which got me thinking. I think, no one is in a position to advise anyone. Not even ’ I’ to ‘me’ of my past. I think everyone is intelligent enough to know what is the best thing to do in a situation.
However, a nudge in the right direction does help sometimes. Luckily, I’ve had great friends throughout, who used to keep an eye on me and give me timely advice. If, for some reason, I didn’t have a friend around, I would seek out my mentors and take their advice instead. Of course, my parents were always there and ready to do the needful. Luckily, I welcome advice from my friends, and it helped always.
I guess I’d say
“Take a chill pill!”
Well actually, I’d like to say this:
- Control your temper. Take a deeeeeeep breath. DO NOT SPEAK WHEN YOU ARE ANGRY.
- Be patient. Divert yourself in the process, and wait for things to chill and smooth out in the process.
- This means, you don’t have to react to every situation. Just keep your own perspective clear. Don’t expect others to understand it always.
- Leave things to God. He really is better at sorting out your issues. That doesn’t mean don’t do anything. It means, do whatever you can, then leave the results with God, and accept whatever happens.
- When a situation gets intolerable, make a major paradigm shift. It really helps. For example: if you do something for your siblings, husband, or children or your neighbors, your colleagues, your boss and they barely notice it, DON’T EXPECT RESULTS OR APPRECIATION. Do it all to make God happy, and don’t expect a thank you from anyone. Much of our frustrations come from feeling unappreciated or not getting noticed. This won’t happen, if one doesn’t do it for them, I mean you do it for them, but for God’s sake. Only God can really bless you. Believe me, He notices.
- There are many ways to think about a given situation. Choose the paradigm that makes you happiest. No need to face it all, plus your own unhappiness too!
- When someone behaves strangely, give that person a second chance at least. Sometimes, it helps just to look the other way. We all have our bad days, we are not perfect all the time, why expect others to behave perfectly all the time 24/7?
- I’d ask myself to burn all the diaries …. Or when angry, write out your feelings. But after that, just burn it up. Don’t keep it.
- If you must keep a diary, keep one for happy feelings and situations. Tear up the ‘bad’ and ‘sad’ parts!
- Don’t ever think about what others are thinking or why they do something the way they do. It is not your domain, responsibility or requirement. You don’t know where they come from or where they are going to! You don’t ‘know’ what others are all about.
What do you think? Is there anything you want to tell your younger self?
