What Would You Write to Your 16 Year Old Self?
I am writing you this on the 23rd of January 2016, so almost 10 years in the future. Even though I am you and you are I, we are pretty different… and I have this feeling that you don’t like me that much. That’s life, I don’t need you to like me or not, I only want you to pay attention to what you are about to read.
Yes, the way we think is so different, so apart that is difficult to imagine that we are the same person.
This is a letter that I want to write you, not to prevent you from the falls that you’re going to take, but to motivate you to speed up those falls. The fast you fall the faster your will understand what life is about. It is not like I know a lot about what life is about, I am just a bit older than you… and yes, with less hair.
If I could give you some advices, these would be it. Be free to accept them or not:
Travel as soon as you can. I would tell you to save all the money that you have to travel, but you already do that. It doesn’t matter where you are going, it only matters that you are going. Nobody or anything will teach you so much about yourself, the human spirit and the resilience of the human spirit as being a solo traveler.
Believe in yourself and in your ideas. Have faith and keep moving forward. Accept failure, accept your fate. Change the things within your reach and embrace those which are beyond your actions. Do not be afraid to hammer your fist on the table when needed, because if you don’t unsheate your blade it will get rusty and without use.
Believe in people’s kindness, but don’t be too naive. Accept every praise and advice with caution, – including this ones. Read, but don’t read too much: there is a world ou there and it is important to put yourself under the sun. I know that arrogance feels good right now, but one day you will have to share who you are and that involves a lot of vulnerability. After all, that’s how we connect with each other. Embrace it, the sooner the better. Speaking of which, be more sociable, you know you need it. I still need it.
By the way, you are better good looking than you think you are. You are more impressive than you feel you are. And yes, you freaking moron, girls like you!! Only if you weren’t so clueless about what to do with them and what to say. Open your eyes and act despite the fear.
Embrace change, defeat and frustration with the same strength that you hold yourself to victories. Fall in love and understand that it will break your heart and you will feel like shit and you will ask yourself: “What is the purpose behind all of this?” There is no answer. That experience will teach you more about yourself, life and other people than you ever thought possible.
You can’t see it but your family loves you, stop acting like an asshole and return them that love. Speaking of which, you should get a dog. That dog is going to be your life companion, your best friend and will make you act in a responsible way, – by your own choice. For the first time in your life you will learn to love more another being than yourself.
Write, write and write. It would be a lot easier for me if you could skip all that Playstation time for some writing. I know that it is cliché, but it is true: success never comes before hard work. In that respect your grandfather and your father, – I mean ours -, is right: work, dedicate and create some discipline in your life. Make your bed when you wake up, greet the people with whom you live and focus! Focus in your dreams, in your work, in your studies.
By the way, skip college… I mean, it is good to meet people, but that’s it.
Find what you love but don’t think that it will be easier than it is now, actually it will be harder and more complex. Right now I do what I love and I still have to psychologically slap myself to do what I have to do.
Don’t take anything less than you think you deserve. Some people will call you snob or with illusions of grandeur but your life is your life. Of course it won’t be easy, if it was easy everyone would do what you will do… And I won’t say no more.
Even though you think that that residual sadness, light frustration and emotional rollercoaster is a fleeing thing from being a teenager, it isn’t… Seriously! You will always feel a certain self-doubt and insecurity, the trick is not to overcome those but to learn to live with it.
There are things in your life, true Black Swans (I won’t explain that to you, you are in 2006 there is internet already… stop being lazy), that will change your life for good. It will hurt like hell and those wounds will stay with you forever. Be proud of those, that nobody can take away from you. That is the beautiful thing about sadness, despair and pain: those are yours and nobody can remove those.
But hey… life is pretty good. It will be awesome, in fact… it will always feel kinda mundane though. So you have to see how bright the sun shines in the middle of the fog.
By the way, being a writer is really awesome and right now you are interested in finance and investing capital. You also lived in New York City and you dated a supermodel. But oh well… what do I know about this?!
Yes, the way we think is so different, so apart that is difficult to imagine that we are the same person.
This is a letter that I want to write you, not to prevent you from the falls that you’re going to take, but to motivate you to speed up those falls. The fast you fall the faster your will understand what life is about. It is not like I know a lot about what life is about, I am just a bit older than you… and yes, with less hair.
If I could give you some advices, these would be it. Be free to accept them or not:
Travel as soon as you can. I would tell you to save all the money that you have to travel, but you already do that. It doesn’t matter where you are going, it only matters that you are going. Nobody or anything will teach you so much about yourself, the human spirit and the resilience of the human spirit as being a solo traveler.
Believe in yourself and in your ideas. Have faith and keep moving forward. Accept failure, accept your fate. Change the things within your reach and embrace those which are beyond your actions. Do not be afraid to hammer your fist on the table when needed, because if you don’t unsheate your blade it will get rusty and without use.
Believe in people’s kindness, but don’t be too naive. Accept every praise and advice with caution, – including this ones. Read, but don’t read too much: there is a world ou there and it is important to put yourself under the sun. I know that arrogance feels good right now, but one day you will have to share who you are and that involves a lot of vulnerability. After all, that’s how we connect with each other. Embrace it, the sooner the better. Speaking of which, be more sociable, you know you need it. I still need it.
By the way, you are better good looking than you think you are. You are more impressive than you feel you are. And yes, you freaking moron, girls like you!! Only if you weren’t so clueless about what to do with them and what to say. Open your eyes and act despite the fear.
Embrace change, defeat and frustration with the same strength that you hold yourself to victories. Fall in love and understand that it will break your heart and you will feel like shit and you will ask yourself: “What is the purpose behind all of this?” There is no answer. That experience will teach you more about yourself, life and other people than you ever thought possible.
You can’t see it but your family loves you, stop acting like an asshole and return them that love. Speaking of which, you should get a dog. That dog is going to be your life companion, your best friend and will make you act in a responsible way, – by your own choice. For the first time in your life you will learn to love more another being than yourself.
Write, write and write. It would be a lot easier for me if you could skip all that Playstation time for some writing. I know that it is cliché, but it is true: success never comes before hard work. In that respect your grandfather and your father, – I mean ours -, is right: work, dedicate and create some discipline in your life. Make your bed when you wake up, greet the people with whom you live and focus! Focus in your dreams, in your work, in your studies.
By the way, skip college… I mean, it is good to meet people, but that’s it.
Find what you love but don’t think that it will be easier than it is now, actually it will be harder and more complex. Right now I do what I love and I still have to psychologically slap myself to do what I have to do.
Don’t take anything less than you think you deserve. Some people will call you snob or with illusions of grandeur but your life is your life. Of course it won’t be easy, if it was easy everyone would do what you will do… And I won’t say no more.
Even though you think that that residual sadness, light frustration and emotional rollercoaster is a fleeing thing from being a teenager, it isn’t… Seriously! You will always feel a certain self-doubt and insecurity, the trick is not to overcome those but to learn to live with it.
There are things in your life, true Black Swans (I won’t explain that to you, you are in 2006 there is internet already… stop being lazy), that will change your life for good. It will hurt like hell and those wounds will stay with you forever. Be proud of those, that nobody can take away from you. That is the beautiful thing about sadness, despair and pain: those are yours and nobody can remove those.
But hey… life is pretty good. It will be awesome, in fact… it will always feel kinda mundane though. So you have to see how bright the sun shines in the middle of the fog.
By the way, being a writer is really awesome and right now you are interested in finance and investing capital. You also lived in New York City and you dated a supermodel. But oh well… what do I know about this?!
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