What would you tell your 20 year old self?

[BertieRosie]

Or what would you go back to change, if you could redo it?

Take pensions seriously, start paying in now.

Travel more, have sex more, save more money!

Get a 🐂💩 detector.

Don't have children with a man who hurts you.

Try harder to keep your weight under control.

Oh, I suppose run away. Just run anywhere, but if you have a destination, maybe run to Silicon Valley.

If you only knew what you could do, you could do it all so much sooner and easier there.

I would tell myself to be more sensible and make sure I’d done everything I wanted to before settling down. I’d also tell myself to think more carefully, am I with who I’d like to have to deal with for at least the next two decades.

I ended up pregnant at 22. I absolutely dote on him, but I look back and think I didn’t really have a life (I was a single mum within 3 months of him being born), no holidays with my mates, no improving my qualifications etc.

That baby is now the same age his Dad was when he was born, has a lovely girlfriend and I encourage him to travel/work hard at Uni. Not that I regret him, and he knows that, but because I want him to have everything I didn’t.

The idea of sleeping with a woman isn't just a 'phase' or something a bit kinky to think about whilst having sex with a man. You're not actually into men. So stop chasing men and go out and have fun with some hot women!

I'd tell myself to get a proper career so I could support myself and any child, alone if it came to that.

And I'd also tell myself that the person I was at 20 is not going to be the same person as at 30, 40 or 50. We change and who were are attracted to changes.

Enjoy life now. The world is going to go off its hinges in a way you can't imagine.

Listening to the “Sunscreen” song lyrics now at 40-odd years old, they’re a surprisingly comprehensive list of things I wish my 20 year old self would have taken onboard.