Stories Along The Way

What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?

If I could give advice to someone younger than me, the first thing I would say is: enjoy life as much as you can.

When we are young, we are often in such a hurry to grow up. We want the freedom, independence, relationships, and life that we think come with being an adult. But enjoy being young while you can. You will be an adult soon enough, and once you get there, you will be an adult for the rest of your life. There is no reason to rush it.

Looking back at my own life, I wish I had enjoyed being young more instead of rushing into a commitment. At the time, I thought I was ready for that next chapter. Now I realize there was nothing wrong with simply enjoying that stage of my life, discovering who I was, and giving myself time to grow.

Life will always have hurdles. There will be difficult moments, disappointments, and challenges you never expected. You won’t always make the right decisions. Learn from those moments, pick yourself back up, and keep moving forward.

One of my biggest pieces of advice would be to make your education a priority. Education can take you a long way and open doors you may not even know exist yet. Take advantage of the opportunity to learn while you have it.

Choose your friends wisely, too. Find a good group of friends and nurture those friendships. A true friendship needs time, effort, and care. Some of those people may end up walking beside you for the rest of your life.

Value your parents. When you’re young, you may think they don’t understand you or that they’re being too strict. But most parents truly want the best for their children. As you get older, you may find yourself understanding some of the things they tried to tell you.

And listen to people who have lived a little longer than you. Being older doesn’t mean we know everything, but experience teaches us a lot. We’ve made mistakes, learned difficult lessons, and sometimes wish we could go back and make different choices.

So enjoy being young. Don’t rush adulthood or feel like you have to have your entire life figured out. Get your education. Choose good people. Take care of your friendships. Value your family. Make mistakes, learn from them, and keep going.

Don’t be in such a hurry to get to the next chapter that you forget to enjoy the one you’re living right now.