Things you wish you could tell your younger self

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Here's mine:

Wear sunscreen/moisturise every day, especially on face, neck, decolletage and hands. It's depressing how suddenly everything wrinkles in 40s/50s

Have a rainy day fund. Save a small proportion of your salary for a nice purchase, holiday or running away

Accept and appreciate how you look now. You'll look back in 10 years and think how young you looked

Travel more while you don't have job/caring responsibilities

Look after your teeth.

Yes! I wish I had dental work when I was younger.
Flossing every day is a very good habit to get into, too

Definitely travel as much & as often as you can.
That it doesn't matter what you look like - nobody's bothered.
That it doesn't matter what other people think about you.
Take any opportunities offered & enjoy them - you could drop dead at any time!

Being married isn’t all that. Stop settling for utter knobs because they say they love you.
Have fun!
Children are a blessing but also your finances will never be the same, so save a bit but spend on what you want.
Speak to your dad.

Start a pension at 22!

I always think if you're offered an opportunity, and you think you might regret it if you say no, say YES! It's good to be pushed out of your comfort zone sometimes.

A collection of winning lottery numbers!

Don’t marry him.
Don't get pregnant.
Buy property where it’s cheap, do it up, sell it on.

You aren't fat, just do some exercise and it will make you feel so much better about yourself

Don’t pick up that first cigarette!

Buy property when cheap! We bought in the boom and hardly made anything. Fortunately our careers improved massively so we could still afford the home we wanted but it would have been easier if we had made a decent sum.

Travel as much as possible. Something dh and I thankfully did and no regrets there.

You’re not fat and you are far more attractive than you realise when you’re young. I spent years thinking I was fat and criticising my appearance. I was horrid to myself, not helped by a couple of negging boyfriends. But when I look back I was tiny and actually way out of their league. Obviously I wouldn’t tolerate that shit now but at 42 I’m obviously not as beautiful as I was back then!

1. Marry and have babies as young as you can.
2. There is no point spending a decade in the City working hard if you’re planning on having a family. Instead, build a career that you can do part-time from home, preferably something like coding, or book editing.
3. Buy a great deal of handsoap, pasta, and loo rolls in 2019.
4. Blow jobs are not safe sex, some bacteria survives the digestive system, and antibiotics don’t work on a gut infection.
5. Drinking is not cool.
6. It is much easier to stay fit than it is to get fit.
7. Do not book holidays for 2020.
8. Friends drift away, it’s what they do. Instead of clinging to old friendships, constantly invest in new ones.
9. You are not as streetwise as you think.
10. Do a vocational degree not that pretentious stuff your parents want you to.
11. Trust your instincts and do not ignore red flags.

I'd probably tell myself to go and be a vet. Reckon I'd be rich and enjoying my job.

You do not need to develop a caffeine habit at the age of 12. Instant coffee is rubbish; no wonder your skin is so bad. Drink warm water instead.

Your peer group can teach you many useful skills and manners that your parents can't be bothered with. Listen to and learn from your friends.

Wear flip-flops in the shower.

The best answer to intrusive personal questions is "My private life is private", followed by a coolly enigmatic half-smile. Shuts 'em right down.

Learn and use the word 'No'.
Your first priority should be yourself.
There's a reason that healthy eating and exercise are recommended. In fact, there are quite a few.
You aren't fat, you have a curvy figure and your idea of 'normal' is being skewed by the media.
Choose a career path. Don't just drift along.
Start a regular savings account ASAP.
Your mum is very wise. Listen to her advice.

Don't get married at 18.

Get a job with animals. You'd hate being a solicitor.
You're not fat!

Stop sleeping with people you don’t like. It’s not demonstrating your liberation from restrictive norms or empowering you- it’s just be making you miserable, so stop it.

PS 90s “ironic” sexism is just ordinary sexism so stop joining in.

Just because your mother doesn’t love you doesn’t mean you’re unlovable
Just because your mother says that your sister ‘got the looks’ doesn’t mean that you’re as plain as she makes you believe
Just because your mother always says that you’re on the wrong doesn’t mean that you aren’t entitled to voice an opinion or stand up for yourself.
Just because your mother lets her husband take his bad temper out on you, doesn’t mean that you have to defer to men because you’re afraid of what will happen if you don’t.
Just because your mother wasn’t a good parent doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have a child because you’re afraid of being the same.

Don't be in such a rush for everything. Take your time, what's for you won't go past you. Don't be pushed around to suit others.

Don't listen to the bullies. They will ruin your life. What they are saying is not true so dont believe them.

Relax, it'll all be ok 😌

Just because your parents don't appear to like being parents doesn't mean you won't like it. I left it almost too late because I genuinely thought children were a millstone round one's neck from what I was constantly told and shown.

Not for me they're not.

It’s not applicable to everyone, but in my case - listen to your mum.