Hey Pandas Over 35, What Advice Would You Give To People Under 21 That You Wish You Had Been Told Yourself? (Closed)

For me it's to stop caring so much what other people thought. A huge amount of my teenage life was consumed with what other thought of me and I had a horrible complex because of it. People don't care as much as you think they do. Stop worrying so much about other people's opinions.

I also would have said to be nicer to myself. I used to think I was so ugly or fat or any number of things and I would kill to look like I did back then now, lol. I was always harder on myself than anyone else ever could have been.

Don’t get married in your teens or early twenties-and no babies. I felt i had to get out of my house at 17 so had a baby and was married by 18. While i raised my daughter to the best of my ability and she wanted for nothing, six months after she was born i was raising her by myself and it was HARD. I love her dearly and she’s a strong capable woman who learned from my mistakes fortunately. So the lesson is if you truly are in love wait until at least your mid twenties to commit to these types of relationships. I married my current husband when i was twenty five and we’ve been together 32 years. Much better relationship when you’re both a little more mature!

You have worth!

The only influence you'll truly ever have on the world is your own behavior. Learn some responsibility, use protection and save your money. Nothing comes for free, in fact 'Free' is a myth. There is no replacement for hard work.

Take good care of your body. Try to get as much sleep as you can, eat well and drink plenty of fluids. Don't take too many antibiotics! You often won't need them and it will come back to haunt you later.

Save your money, as much as possible. You're going to need it.

Especially for you who are women. Don't worry about not fitting into strict beauty ideals. I myself suffered from anorexia in the 90s because of this. Don't cling to society's desired norms without questioning them. Take the time to figure out what kind of future you want for yourself and don't make big irreversible decisions on the spur of the moment. Be curious. A little depressing, but don't set big plans or hopes for the future, but focus on small things and steps, like when I'm an adult, I want to have a bookshelf full of interesting books. It was my own dream. (However, now there are too many shelves and even more books and the books accumulate in surprising places in piles). Two things in my life that I regret are that I didn't move to a commune when I was a young adult and that I didn't go on a Greenpeace ship because I felt I was too shy. I'm still a green hippie, even though they say that with age a person becomes more conservative. (I am a proud exception to the statistics). And if it's any comfort with age, it's that you become more accepting of your own body and mind. I even like to advise younger people with all gentleness because I hope for a glimmer of hope in the midst of all the horror!

Have some forethought! Someday you will wish you had a time machine to go back to where you are in your life right now wanting the opportunity to do it over with the wisdom you’ll gain.

No matter what the adults tell you, don't freak out if you don't know what you want to do for the rest of your life. And don't freak out when you make a serious financial mistake. That's what your young adulthood is for, making mistakes and bad decisions. That way, you have time to correct it.

Don’t let anyone tell you how much you are worth. Don’t get stuck believing those around you.

Second: Save as much money as you can!

Sex is not that important, it’s not something to rush into, and people are probably having a whole lot less of it than you think. Thankfully, I never got the chance to rush in…it took me a long time to get there…but I do wish I’d been told, so I could have felt less stress and pressure.

On a side note…I wish I could take a copy of the song “Danny Don’t You Know” back to my teenage self. It is literally everything 15 year old me needed to hear, and I can pretty much guarantee NSP has stopped at least one teen suicide since releasing that song.

Well, health and dating scum was mentioned in the description, which is VERY important. However, I would tell the youngin's that first off, you might think 35+ is old but trust me, it's not, and there's still alot life to live. And getting older has its perks. You're not necessarily full of wisdom, but you do learn how to handle things better. It's just experience. I also found that the older I get the less of a f**k I give and I love it! That applies to most areas of my life. Drama, inconveniences, my appearance. Your body will change, but you are still gorgeous! Whenever I feel anxious about getting older, I tell myself the older I get, the more secure I get with myself. So don't fret! Embrace it! I try to look forward to in 30 years feeling like a confident silver haired goddess and I will love it!

Take care of you first and foremost. Make sure you have a future before you decide to get married and have children. Not necessarily in that order. I wish I would have worried more about me buying a car and a house while living at mom's for $200 per month.

Watch out playing sports. Don't push yourself because a coach wants to win. More then likely you aren't going to go to college on an athletic scholarship. Sports are great!!! But they do hard core screw your body up later on in life. My knees hate me from years of tennis and volleyball. If I had known I might have taken it a bit easier.

Always remember that those people that we all disdain. Whether it is the homeless begger or the annoying coworker, we are all sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers.

Don't get into bad things. Take care of yourself, mind & body at young age. Don't get addicted to drugs, alcohol, smoking. Have fun but don't get addicted to these things. When bad times might hit these things will make it worse

Protect your hearing. Don't play the music too loudly. Wear earplugs at rock concerts.

Get a pension. It isn’t something only old people need. Trust me, don’t hit 35+ and realise life is expensive and wish you had started it years ago .

You can't get everything handed to you. You'll actually have to work very hard to get ahead in the world. Stay strong and you'll achieve your dreams...

Don't stick to standards too much.
Sooner or later, everything will change.

Don’t let your parents get involved in your wedding. They WILL f**k it up.