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Original poster

What would your 16-year-old self think of where you are now?

134 replies

dumbstruckdumptruck · 26/08/2022 20:07

I've been feeling a bit disappointed by life recently – objectively totally irrationally, since my situation is pretty good, all things considered. So I've been trying to imagine how my younger self would feel if I could show her her future.

How do you think your younger self (teenage age) would feel if she could see how things turned out?

OP posts:
puddlesofmothers · 26/08/2022 23:05

Wouldn't believe it. Couldn't comprehend it.

LouLou198 · 26/08/2022 23:07

She would be horrified by my skinny jeans and comfortable ballet pumps!

SprinkleOfSunak · 26/08/2022 23:25

She’d be impressed by a lot, but would’ve expected me to have fucked many more men over the years.

Squirrelsnut · 26/08/2022 23:27

I think she'd be unsurprised and mostly pleased.

DenholmElliot1 · 26/08/2022 23:27

My 16 year old self would be dead chuffed at where I am now, although i did have a poverty stricken childhood.

xippo · 26/08/2022 23:32

mostly amazed, I didn't know I did it but I manifested from a young age. ignored parent/teachers saying I wouldn't amount to anything, certainly stuck 2 fingers up to them.
I couldn't have predicted in my wildest dreams where I'd be today.
very grateful too.

Clingfilm · 26/08/2022 23:33

She'd have thought I'd sold out, however 40 odd year old me is pleased as punch. 16 year old me was a bit of a knob.

Motherofalegend · 26/08/2022 23:33

I read something a while ago which has stuck with me, it was something Ali g the lines of “remember the day you wished for the salary you’re now on?”

I am clearly never happy! 😂

I would (and I am) proud of how I’ve turned out and the life I’ve built. 16 year old me would be surprised as I’m in a career I never knew existed then and at a senior level.

tunnocksreturns2019 · 26/08/2022 23:37

She’d be delighted I found someone who loved me exactly as I am, and gutted he died so very young.

Karmakamelion · 26/08/2022 23:40

Sad that I married a man that treats me badly. But happy that I live in the area I do and probably thought that I should be more successful asit was always drummed into me that I was clever whilst also being told I was useless!
She would be thrilled with my kids and she would love my feisty daughter!

ParkheadParadise · 26/08/2022 23:41

Bloody Amazed
At 16 I had a 1year old dd living with my parents totally skint and not knowing what I was doing.

Designerenvy · 26/08/2022 23:48

I think she’d be very proud that I’m happily married, have 3 kids, in a job I love and went NC with my narcissistic father.
I think she’d be disappointed that I didn’t run off and join green peace and save the planet and that I dress so conservatively now. Also that I now eat meat too…. She’d be horrified!

Ticksallboxes · 26/08/2022 23:49

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 26/08/2022 21:36

16-year old self would first be pretty astonished I was still alive despite her continued attempts of self-sabotage including constant suicide ideation brought on by undiagnosed untreated anxiety, depression and most likely autism. She would then be thrilled that I managed to stay close to the small group friends I then had, still exchange Christmas cards with the mother of ‘the one that got away’ and that I own my own very amazing dog. After several cats. She might be slightly disappointed that I never managed to own my own pony. She would be relieved I managed to salvage my rocky relationship with my parents and that me and my mum are the closest ever. She would be proud I have raised an amazing brave funny independent and kind 19 year old single handed with the help of said parents. She would find comfort in knowing I have now found my place in life and learned to love myself and my own company. She would laugh at my still-enduring love of puppets! Most of all though she would be so fucking proud of me. That I finally managed to make something of my love of reading and all things language and that I’d got myself a degree. And then that I now, as of this year, at the grand age of 52, am now a newly qualified teacher. Where do I work I hear her ask. At your college. The one where you struggled so much to find yourself. Where you hated yourself and your life and you wanted it to end. Or change. Where you cried out for help and guidance but nobody could help you. You did it yourself. You made a magnificent Life for yourself. You now help all the young 16-year old selves to help them find their way in their lives. You’ve made it. And they will. You are a fucking star.

This literally had me tearing up...honestly this thread should be put on Classics.

sorrysaythatagain · 26/08/2022 23:57

Very disappointed I think.

My 16 year old self wanted to be a television presenter travelling the world and having good experiences.
She didn't want to be a 41 year old single mum to 3 kids with 3 dads, broke with a failed midwifery career, with not a penny to her name, robbing Peter to pay Paul, living in a cramped flat, driving a crap car and overweight and mental health struggles.

NannyGythaOgg · 27/08/2022 00:07

Bloody amazed that i am still around - at 16 I wanted to be dead before I was 30. Also amazed that - life is ok at this age. Not exciting but no major traumas either.
Also fucked off that I look like my mum and I absolutely have to have a fringe because if I don't, I see her looking back at me through the mirror

Ticksallboxes · 27/08/2022 00:15

RewildingAmbridge · 26/08/2022 22:35

She would think I'm very boring, I'm married have a child and a professional job (albeit one that definitely would've interested her), I don't travel as much anymore, I wear no eyeliner most days, my nose piercing has gone, and my jeans no longer cover my shoes and drag on the floor.
I haven't been to a proper gig since before the pandemic and stopped going to festivals about ten years ago because I don't want to sleep on the floor in a tent anymore! She'd also be sad that I gave up my vintage beetle because it used too much petrol and I was saving to move/for a bigger mortgage.
She'd be proud I've retained my feminist principles and that I'm still known for having a valuable opinion and for not tolerating discrimination/bullying/twattery.
She'd loathe my décor.
She'd also be gobsmacked that I am married to the boy she took the school bus with, who at sixteen she had a bit of a crush on, and one fleeting kiss, the cool one she went to all the gigs with, the festivals, most of the international adventures and that he's currently sitting in the dining room painting tiny models with a magnifying lamp .....

OMG...so many of these posts are like the end of a romantic movie Flowers

Dontfuckingsaycheese · 27/08/2022 00:26

Oh and just to add - the lad who you lost your virginity to at 15, who you were stupidly obsessed by, would reappear years later when you became a mother. He would one day go to the cash machine and draw out £40 when you were standing outside a supermarket wondering how to afford to buy some food and on another occasion you would be sat in his car on a rainy night drinking from your flask of coffee while he played you his new cd of Salvation Army band music, having driven you to Nottingham to see Steve Coogan live playing Alan Partridge for the first time in years 😂 Aha!!!

blackheartsgirl · 27/08/2022 00:42

My 16 year old self would be very sad and would want to give me a big hug.
shed be heartbroken

DustinsHat · 27/08/2022 00:44

I'd have been delighted that I still have a raging crush on Kirk Hammett despite him and I both being extremely elderly by 16 year old standards!

Bellabluea · 27/08/2022 00:58

Laughing at us all saying we’re fatter. When I was 16 I remember looking at my mum (who wasn’t big really just cellulitey and not 16) and vowing I’d never let myself look like that. I indeed look exactly like that and it’s not bad at all!

16 year old me just had a baby, was single, unsure of herself and attempting A levels!
She’d be so proud of me getting a degree and a great job. Amazed at the number of children I have. She’d be horrified that I married a nerd 😂 but happy that he is a good man and a better father than she had. She’d be happy that she’s close with the family that matter and that she has good friends and a pretty nice life.

Ineedtoletgo83 · 27/08/2022 00:58

She’d be surprised I married out of faith and nationality. Think she’d be proud I run my own company doing the job I always wanted to do!! I think disappointed that she was still fat! She’d be glad I got out of our run down area/city and lived in a nice area.

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 27/08/2022 01:51

She'd be really pissed off that I had kids, especially having them late in life instead of being mortgage free.
I do think she'd be surprised at what I earn (it's not a lot but a good salary compared to what's usually offered in the run down shit town I'm from).

Champagneforeveryone · 27/08/2022 07:45

She would be thrilled at the amount of dogs and alcohol. Not so much so by the scarcity of money which she confidently expected to pour into her cupped hands the minute adulthood arrived, or the amount of sex, which she fully expected to be wild and passionate and at least once a day.

Bemused by the Emma Bridgewater mugs and Crew Clothing.

Astounded about the child, though now at 18 I think he would meet her approval. She would absolutely be flummoxed by the closeness of the relationship we have and probably compare his childhood unfavourably with her own.

She would approve of my job, though would likely be surprised that I had taken the "softer" option.

Overall I think she would have been pleased.

RiverSkater · 27/08/2022 11:08

Happy I'd achieved some dreams I had even then, moving to London, college.

Overjoyed I'd have children as I didn't date much or have a real boyfriend until late twenties. Proud of my close bond with them.

Sad that I lost both parents when I was relatively young.

Puzzled that I've gone no contact with my sister as I was in that 'looking up to her' stage and whilst she had been quite controlling when we were younger, I just assumed it was her bossy nature. The toxicity was all to come.

Sad that I'm unhappy in my relationship with a man child whose like my Dad. Sad that, like my parents, I'm constantly worried about money.

Wondering where that enormous belly came from! 😆

StandingON · 27/08/2022 11:58

Completely baffled, I think. No necessarily in a bad way, I don't think I had very specific plans or dreams by that age. But very confused on how we got here.