If you could go back in time to meet your 20yr old self,

[speak easy]

what would you tell them?

[CentralMass]

1. Be careful with who you date.

[lagomorph777]

103. +1000

Love is an illusion.

[Blue Owl]

2. Where to start...

[Sanity Claws]

3. Loosen up!

Experiment. Don't decide on a career too soon. Enjoy life.

[Blue_true]

37. That is also what I would tell my 20 year old self, mostly.

Especially the loosen up part, date some, take a lighter course load in college, don’t be so insecure about being poor - get to know the three rich women, in college, that found me interesting. I do believe that my career choice was sound.

[Calculating]

4. Buy lots of stock in amazon

And lots of bitcoin

[spooky3]

33. and Apple. nt

[Captain Zero]

47. Cisco

nt

[Pantagruel]

5. Stop smoking

and invest for the long term.

[A HERETIC I AM]

57. This.

Absolutely this.

[Comatose Sphagetti]

6. Put it in a jar 'till you're 50. -n/t

[pfitz59]

7. Exercise more, eat right, buy Microsoft stock

and worry less

[DavidDvorkin]

8. A lot, but I bet he wouldn't listen to an old fart.

[speak easy]

10. Well, you could start by saying

that America elected a black man called Barack Hussein Obama as president - that might shake him up a little

[DavidDvorkin]

12. That would be a good way to start.

[csziggy]

9. Don't trust your little sister on anything

She lies and will fuck up your life, convince your family to not trust you, and undercut you every way she can.

[dchill]

11. Heads up. Shit's about to get weird.

[Dagstead Bumwood]

13. Item one: Put every dollar into Amazon stock, as someone else suggested.

Item two: Buy a nice house in the Canadian Rockies and move there before 2016. Trust me, shit's gonna get weird.

[Blues Heron]

14. here are the lottery numbers for the next several decades

don't be too obvious my good dude

[spooky3]

34. :-)

[RockRaven]

15. Don't hesitate to cut toxic people out of your life, even when they are family or friends' friends.

If you get blowback from your friends or other family, that's their own failing for trying to manipulate you into accepting being treated inappropriately, not yours for refusing to let people mistreat you.

Even if you feel like you have too few friends to lose any, you will soon make more when you are not spending time with lousy people.

[ARPad95]

44. Yes! Wonderful advice and I've been there, done that. :)

[appalachiablue]

69. Amen to this. What relief after unloading

two highly toxic types, a long time coming.

I would say lighten up, work hard; you'll get there, but don't kill your soul.

Take time to enjoy nature, stay healthy, find people you love and cherish the life.

[treestar]

16. It is perfectly ok

To be you. It is fine not to date AND not to have any boyfriend. IT does not make you a loser. Your mother and aunts and father TO STFU. enjoy your classes.

[keithbvadu2]

17. Take back that book of sports scores and records.

Take back that book of sports scores and records.

[keithbvadu2]

22. Don't tell yourself that Ronald Reagan will be Prez.

Don't tell yourself that Ronald Reagan will be Prez.

You won't be believed.

[speak easy]

25. Try talking about a black man called Barack Hussein Obama :)

[LakeArenal]

18. Don't be who they say you are... Be who you are.

[SoonerPride]

19. Don't try cocaine.

You will like it too much.

[Journeyman]

27. Robin Williams: Cocaine is God's way of telling you you have too much money . . .

[happybird]

28. Great minds and all that

We posted at nearly the same time.
Cocaine is a hell of a drug. As is heroin. Put ‘em together and I’m damn lucky to be alive.

[happybird]

21. Don't ever touch hard drugs.

They can, and will, utterly destroy your life for a long, miserable decade. That time, and everything lost, cannot be replaced. You will regret the hell out of the damage you inflict on yourself and everyone around you.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

76. I'd tell myself to enjoy the shit out of that decade

Cause that's something I might've actually listened to

[happybird]

90. Oh, the decade of decadence was quite enjoyable

It was the one that followed that sucked, the 10+ years after I stopped using when the consequences finally caught up to me. I suppose that’s because it is when I actually started paying attention to and caring about the mess I had made.

[Lochloosa]

23. Buy those lots on St. George Island, FL

Damn.

[Ka-Dinh Oy]

24. Not get and ride a scooter.

[Joinfortmill]

26. It all turns out ok.

[NJCher]

40. that would be mine, too

eom

[Tikki]

29. Try to buy in Santa Monica...just about any property West of 26th Street.

Work harder...save more

The Tikkis

[torius]

30. There will be this thing called Twitter and Trump will use it to run ...

be very afraid.

[East-A-Squared]

31. Buy stock in AOL, E-Bay, Dell.

[MuseRider]

102. I took my measly

little amount of money and rode AOL up and up and split and up and then stopped right before it started going down. I had no idea what I was doing but everyone left in my family died fairly soon before AOL started to rise and I at least doubled the little amount of money I got then I doubled that. It was enough.

I would tell myself that in about 20 years invest in AOL and do not marry that man.

[captain queeg]

32. Just be yourself. Don't worry about what other people think.

[Ocelot II]

35. Major in something else and don't marry that guy.

[Hekate]

72. That, too!

[haele]

36. Pay more attention to your health.

Stop trying to be superwoman all the time, just some of the the time.

Haeke

[tavernier]

38. Leave the student union and go to the library

and don’t come out until you graduate.

And hug your parents. They won’t be around forever.

[spooky3]

39. Play more tennis and do less high impact aerobics.

Appreciate your pets every day of their lives, because those lives are incredibly short. Don't assume your vets are as knowledgeable as they are confident.

Appreciate the good people you meet, but never forget Maya Angelou's advice.

[MrsCoffee]

41. I would tell myself to talk to my mother. To spend as much time with her as I possibly could.

One of the biggest regrets of my life was being too young to realize that she was dying and what that actually meant.

She died five days after my 22nd birthday.

[Haggard Celine]

42. Don't go to the expensive private college.

Go to the cheap state school and graduate. Major in Math or Biology. Then save money and when you have enough, get the hell out of America because it's going down the tubes.

[Wingus Dingus]

43. Don't quit things too soon when they get boring or difficult--

Give it time to get better. Marriage and career especially.

Also, stop being so self-conscious and worried about what people think. No one fucking cares.

[jalan48]

45. Buy Microsoft stock.

[ecstatic]

46. I would love to get that do-over

The list of what I'd tell 20-year old me is too long to even contemplate right now.

[Blaukraut]

48. Without the risk of altering the timeline and losing out on so much good?

That's a difficult question. Every decision I made in life has had consequences. Some good, some bad. But they are all intertwined. If I hadn't made one bad choice in particular, I would never have been able to make all the good ones that followed because of the path my bad decision ultimately put me on.

So I would tell my 20 year old self to quit smoking at that time instead of 20 years later. That would be the one decision that would probably only have positive consequences and not change anything else in the process.

[speak easy]

49. I'd be willing to risk changing the timeline

if there was some way to keep W out.

[Laffy Kat]

50. Finish your degree. nt

[The Wizard]

51. Don't go to Vietnam.

[GusBob]

52. That's the age I made my career choice

I would tell myself you are making the right choice

[Iggo]

53. Don't wait. It doesn't get any better. Quit now. Life's too short, buddy.

Also, remember this: They’re all perfect. 😉

[demtenjeep]

54. wait

go to college first


then get married

[drmeow]

55. Take more math and statistics classes nt

[Freethinker65]

56. Get out of your comfort zone. Get rid of your social anxiety. It gets easier and more natural.

[Raine1967]

58. Same thing told myself when I was 20:

"I'm gonna live my life as it plays out."

I've had a few missteps, and an awful lot of insecurity that I faked my way thru, but damn few regrets. I have a ton of great stories and very few regrets.

Some of my stories are painful, make no mistake about those. Mostly, I lived my life the very way I wanted to when I was 20.

When I turned 30, That was when I learned the beginning of freedom.

Now I'm in my 50's, I love my 20-year-old self. We're both so much more self-assured cause my 20-year-old had faith in my future, 50+-year-old. I, along with my mentors and friends along the way, got me to me.

Live life out loud and surround yourself with people who lift you up.

I was lucky. Those people I was surrounded with were not my parents.

[hedda_foil]

59. Don't break up with the love of your life.

You'll both regret it as long as you live.

[NNadir]

60. I'd smack that little twerp in the head and tell him to straighten up his act. n/t.

[rickyhall]

61. Move to Vancouver, B.C.

[meadowlander]

62. Don't waste time and money on grad school unless it's something you're genuinely passionate about.

You'll get more out of virtually any crappy starter job than you will out of marking time and racking up debt in grad school because you don't know what you really want to do with your life.

Also, don't major in English. Major in Civil Engineering.

And wear your bike helmet, dammit.

[kimbutgar]

63. I was not ugly but a pretty girl who was insecure because I didn't look like those white girls

In the fashion magazines I brought. I was a light skinned black woman who could have passed for white but I wanted to be all black or white not the in between. A college professor told me I was a person of the future.

Seeing Vanessa Williams, and Meghan Markle advance has inspired me.

[hunter]

64. Been there, done that.

He told me to fuck off.

[speak easy]

67. 'Make like a tree and get out of here' - Biff

[Hekate]

74. I think it's "Make like a tree and leaf" isn't it?

[Hugh_Lebowski]

77. Not in Back to the Future (nt)

[speak easy]

80. ...

[speak easy]

81. :)

[GulfCoast66]

65. Hmmm. I guess 'the older woman who is kind of your boss, that you really like

And everyone says you are crazy for trying to date because she won’t be interested in a kid? And because of company policy. Do it anyway. It will lead to 34 wonderful years’.

I did. And it has. Few regrets here.

[Silent3]

68. Adjust your opinion of the intelligence and rationality...

...of your fellow human beings downward several notches.

I know you're already a bit cynical about humankind, but more of them are more crazy and gullible and irrational than you've yet dared imagine.

[Tree Lady]

70. Wait to get married

Go to college instead of business college and stay away from church people that tell you how to live your life.

[Hekate]

71. Run. Your Mom broke you last year and this black depression isn't done with you yet...

So she meant well when she bent you so far you broke — you aren't her, and that’s okay. Stop trying to make her happy, because she never ever will be happy with you, kid. Seriously, some day you’ll get a PhD and you still will have done it wrong.

Run. Especially from that guy who keeps hanging around with puppy eyes — you knew the moment you meant him that friendship was okay but a relationship would be stupid as hell. Now the black depression is making decisions.

Go, go, go.

That’s all I’ve got.

[lpbk2713]

73. Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.

Gladys Knight

[GReedDiamond]

75. When you start your fucking punk band, play live...

...RELENTLESSLY, and if the other members don't wanna do that because of their "day jobs," replace them with people without day jobs.

Also, buy Apple and Amazon stock asap, with whatever $$ you have.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

78. You actually WILL care what your skin looks like in your 50's ...

So don't fucking get TAN on purpose just cause you look better that way.

I really did look a lot better tan, but ... the time I spent in the sun (and even tanning beds) in my 20's ... was really stupid.

Come to think of it ... 'your first priority should really not be getting laid' might've been even better advice to my 20 yo self.

Actually ... naw.

[ansible]

79. B-I-T-C-O-I-N

The absolute worst part of it is that I was there when it first started too and thought it was a stupid idea, completely ignoring it until it was too late to ever get rich with it.

[speak easy]

84. 6c in 2010 :(

There are not many assets that appreciate a million times.

[DFW]

82. Two things:

First:
Two years from now, you will take a trip to West Berlin. You will meet a beautiful blonde German woman there. No matter WHAT you have to do, don't let her go. EVER.

Second:
At some point, a guy out in California will start a company called Apple Computer. No matter how you do it, put every cent you can possibly beg, borrow, or steal into its stock.

Either one would have brought me great riches, although of two very different natures.

As it turned out, I ended up following up on the first bit of advice, which more than makes up for not having paid attention to the second.

Oh, yeah, one more thing--in three years, you will be offered a chance to take one of the coolest jobs anyone could ever get offered. It's a job that requires someone with your particular skills. Very few people could do it at all. Take it. Some people will warn you against it. Don't listen to them. It will be such a cool job, that you will still be happy to have it 45 years later. (I took that advice, too)

[speak easy]

86. I took trips into West Berlin.

A wild vibe. Lots of college age people, but alas, I did not meet a special woman.

I have not been back to West Berlin since my last visit in 1988. I do not want to see what has happened there - keeping precious memories alive.

[DFW]

89. Berlin has changed, but not necessarily for the worse

The western center, especially the old shops and cafés sandwiched between the Ku'damm and Kantstrasse has retained it old charm, and the east, centered partially around Potsdamer Platz, is now the more modern part, all the junk from the socialist era basically cleared away, has rows and rows of cool places to hang out (when the virus isn't causing lockdowns, that is). Our favorite Turkish place is on the Oranienburger Strasse, although Kreuzberg probably has maintained its status as one of the fifteen most populous Turkish-speaking cities, and we find the Hackische Höfe overrated.

It is still a very young town, and when we are there, my wife and I now laugh at how inconspicuous we were in the 1970s, and how we stand out now as "the oldest people in the joint."

One thing about Berlin has not changed--no matter where you are, you have no idea what will be next door. Next to the Ritz Carlton, one of the swankiest hotels in town, is a COA Asian fusion restaurant, with ridiculously cheap, good food. It is full of the under-30 crowd, and when we go in there, we always get stares saying "what are those old farts doing in a joint like this?" But, hey, the food is just as good and just as cheap for us as it is for them, so who cares if we are the oldest ones in there?

[Raine]

83. Let the people you love KNOW you love and appreciate them

don take for granted that they already know how much they mean to you.

[SunSeeker]

85. Don't get married. nt

[Rhiannon12866]

87. Appreciate who and what you've got right now because you won't always have it

[phylny]

88. Don't do it!

[Bucky]

91. Learn how to do minor repairs on your car.

[BlueStater]

92. Stick with college.

Also, in ten years, that douchebag from The Apprentice will run for president and win. Convince more people that he’s a sack of shit.

[Kaleva]

93. Nothing. I wouldn't want to risk not being where and who I am now.

[OneGrassRoot]

94. Don't get married, don't have kids. n/t

[Klaralven]

95. Listen to the other lab tech who was going off to Harvard Business School for an MBA

[Baitball Blogger]

96. Oh, so much. So much.

I would begin with, take more computer and writing classes. And brace yourself, because your career will not take a traditional route. Everything you need to learn, you'll learn from the school of hard knocks.

[superpatriotman]

97. Stay away from Kim

She’s so not worth it.

[Bettie]

98. Don't diet. Ever.

Just accept yourself as you are, because in this society, no one is ever thin enough or "pretty" enough.

Just opt out of that and you'll be a lot happier.

Oh and marry the nerdy guy from Sears. (I did that and it has turned out extremely well.)

[Tracer]

99. That guy you think is funny and cute?

Drop him like a hot potato and you'll avoid years of misery.

[rownesheck]

100. Grow your hair out

very long cuz it'll be gone by 40. Also, do everything possible to finish college. Turn down all the promotions they throw at you at your retail job because once you accept them, you'll be stuck forever in retail. Oh! You know that girl you and your friends think is super hot? In about 10 years, you guys will be married. Seriously! I know it sounds too good to be true, but it's real! Fine, don't believe me, but you'll see...

[MineralMan]

101. "Keep doing what you're doing."

"It all will work out really well, if you just follow your heart."

Note: I was 20 in 1965, so buying tech stocks was not possible. Instead, since I was in Turkey, I bought a bunch of oriental rugs really cheaply and shipped them back to the states.

[BluesRunTheGame]

104. If I could go back to when I was 20,...

...I’d stay there.

I’d just finished my first year of art school and took an epic road trip to western Canada. I hiked the West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island and visited Banff and Jasper National Parks.

[bif]

105. Since you're in Istanbul already, keep going to India!

I chickened out and have regretted it ever since. It was one of the few times in history when all those countries weren't fighting. I could have gone overland for $99!

[634-5789]

106. Wouldn't matter, that goofball would not listen.