Have you ever found yourself deep in thought, thinking back to your younger years and wishing you would have known what you know now?
Your experience is what helps pave the way for the next generations.
Here are the 25 top pieces of advice to younger women:
- Spend every minute you can with your kids, they are grown before you realize it. DM
- Stop worrying. Life will turn out better than you’ve ever imagined. TW
- Manage your money better and don’t fret over what people think of you. JW
- Invest your time in those that enrich your life and drop those that don’t. TH
- You don’t have to have biological kids to have self worth. Being an auntie is just as important. MB
- Things turned out different than you’d planned but better than you can imagine. KB
- Learn how to communicate, in a healthy way, from the get go. You can’t help people who don’t want to be helped. Your passion for things is an attribute not something you should be ashamed of. Love like Jesus, especially to those who appear unloveable. Everyone is fighting their own battles. Be kind to every single person you encounter. HB
- Save money. Spend it wisely. Don’t splurge on expensive, unnecessary things, but prioritize needs over wants. SG
- Don’t settle for a relationship that is abusive or toxic for the sake of social expectations. The man who will love, respect and support you is out there and he’s worth the wait. JW
- It’ll all workout perfectly in the end, so enjoy where you are. BH
- Do not go to college, just to go to college. Decide what you want to do before spending thousands of dollars on a degree. It is okay to start over as many times as you want. Your worth is not defined by how quickly you get married, how many friends contact you on a Friday night for plans, or how many children you have. MB
- Make your own money. Be financially independent. Learn how to manage money! Take care of your physical and mental health…don’t take it for granted. AB, JG
- Don’t rush anything. Good people end up with good people. JH
- “No” is a complete sentence. KB
- You worry too much! Seek therapy. Too much anxiety is not normal. AB
- Prioritize You. Set Boundaries. AW
- Boundaries are so important. When people don’t respect your boundaries, that says something about them and not you. Everything does not always happen for a reason, sometimes horrible things happen. But you will get through them and be stronger because of them. EC
- Don’t believe what you see on television and social media. Close to 99% of what you see is an illusion and unattainable because it is fabricated. SP
- Don’t be so trustful. SA
- That a “them” problem is not a “you” problem. JM
- Don’t fight naps…take them because when you’re older, you don’t have time to or opportunity. AT
- Your job/pay is not always worth your happiness/sanity. Happiness is not reserved for those who fit a certain profile. SL
- If a guy doesn’t respect your “no”, saying “yes” won’t make him respect you either. AJ Don’t let attention from the boys (or lack there of) define you. CL
- You are enough. Everything is temporary. SW Life is just beginning. CL
- Stop focusing on trying to pleases others. Stop caring about what others think of you. Do the things you enjoy, no matter what. TJ, JG
My advice to my younger self is based on my type A personality. There are things that you can control and then there are things that you can’t control. Fretting over what you can’t control will only bring you sleepless nights. Focus on what is within your power to change.
Things you CAN control:
- my words
- my boundaries
- learning from my mistakes
- my effort
- taking care of myself
- taking care of my feelings
- my thoughts
- asking for help
- my actions
- my replies
- choices I make
- my attitude
- my sense of worth
Things you CANNOT control:
- what other people say
- what other people do
- what other people think
- how others feel
- other people’s beliefs
- other people’s opinions
- aging
- the past
- mistakes others made
- the weather
As you can see, the list of what we can control is longer than what we can’t. Remembering that on the hard days can help us grab hold of our emotions, look at what we can adjust, and move forward.
As they say, hindsight is always 20/20.
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