AIBU To ask what you would tell a younger you?

[Diel]

I stumbled upon a photograph of me as a teenager. It got me wondering what I wish I could have known then.

Don't be so flattered by male attention...it doesn't make you special unless it is the right attention.

Plan a little bit more for the future

You are as good as anyone else. Don't apologise for being you.

Enjoy the freedom of being young.

What would you say?

I would tell my teenage self that it's fine not to look 20 when your 15 and to not gauge my self worth on whether or not I have a boyfriend.
And also that a lot of men are complete dickheads so watch the fuck out.

Reading these is really moving.
Agree that it's sad how many people felt fat and unattractive. And those with harmful people around.

That your ‘best friend’ is a sociopath who will ruin your life

Do not waste your time worrying

I would tell me 'You don't know as much as you think you know', and 'You will come to realise how lucky you are'

Go on roaccutane earlier.

Then I would pretty much dictate he’s not that into you word for word as it wasn’t around when I was a teen

Just be you. Don't try to be anyone else,

Don't stay with him to be nice, his threats to kill himself if you leave are completely empty, and you will spend the next 2 years wasting your time, missing nights out with friends and not having fun because you're too soft to leave.

Also, report the man harassing you - you WILL be believed

For the love of the good Lord just chill OUT! One day you will be thankful you spent 98% of your 20's travelling and working abroad. You just need to stop stressing about finding that love you desperately want. He will come at just the right moment

Save some of your weekend money. Don’t get that credit card at 18. Continue running for fun. You weren’t fat. Talk less listen more. Try not to worry and end up trying too hard with friends. Don’t worry about not being ‘cool’. Be thankful you’ve got parents who give you a curfew, who make you do your homework and always sent you to school with a packed lunch.

I would say “do it all just how you want, and don’t worry, you’re going to do great”

I had fun and everything has worked out but could have done without the second guessing of myself!

Annoyingly I would tell my younger self the same things my parents told me when I was my younger self.
They said I’d regret ignoring their advice the same way they regretted ignoring their parent’s advice. But I knew better obviously 😢

Don’t waste your time getting an education. You won’t get a job because you’ll be overqualified, and believe it or not people don’t get hired based on education anyway - your face has to fit and if it doesn’t then it doesn’t matter how great your education is.

Get an apprenticeship straight away because work experience is more valuable than degrees. And don’t go into the public sector because the government will decimate salaries and job prospects so you’ll be left with fuck all to show for your hard work.

Yes you can get pregnant on your first time.
Know your worth, the only man worth crying over won’t cause you tears in the first place.
The ones that teased you in school all ended up with fillers to copy the exact features they bullied you for.

Agree with previous posters who've commented how sad it is that so many of us thought we were fat, or were put down by our mothers, or both. :-(

Don’t be a people pleaser.
It’s ok to say no to people.
Don’t leave having children so late in your life that you leave your DS a lonely only child because mother nature has made the decision for you there’ll be no more.

You aren't the only person with teenage spots. Go to the doctor sooner.

You aren't the only person with anxiety. Go to the doctor sooner.

Don't dye your hair blonde and keep it long.

Don't waste time crying and bending yourself into a pretzel to keep your teenage boyfriend - let him go. He was never right for you. You shouldn't have to fight to keep someone in your life. Save that fight for YOU and the life you want.

Don't be afraid to go after what you want.

Don't listen to people who put you down or put bad thoughts into your mind - you are naturally positive and enthusiastic but easily dampened by dark people. Avoid them.

Keep writing.

Start travelling earlier.

Turn the TV off, get off the computer and live.

You really are beautiful, inside and out. Don't let anyone put you down.

Also, I'd say, I love you.

Don’t stay with him - he did cheat

Don’t tell that man you love him. You don’t.

Do the PhD

Go to the doctor about the pain sooner.

Don’t work for that TV show. It won’t be good for your soul.

Put. The. Cigarettes. Down.

Save money!
Maybe get an education

It wasn't your fault. You weren't giving out any "signals", you didn't do anything wrong, you didn't deserve it. Tell someone. Keep telling people until someone does something about him because the alternative is to spend your whole adult life wondering he's gone on to do the same (or worse) to another girl and whether you could have prevented it.

Save fmoney if you can.

You are gorgeous - you just can’t see it.

Make full use of your twenties. Finish university, find a partner, start a family. They’re not an extended adolescence, or years you can waste before life begins at 30.

Love and learn from your grandparents. They won’t be around as long as you think they will.

And fof the love of god, don’t start smoking! You won’t believe how quickly it ages you.

I'd never change anything but I'd say:

"There is a rough point that's going to be like visiting hell and back but bare with it as afterwards will be so much better and worth it all"