In both the Live and Online Edition of the Lines In The Sand course, you are asked and answer a lot of questions. One of those questions is: What is the best advice would you give your younger self? If you are an Oprah fan, you might recognize this question, because it is one she likes to ask during her “Super Soul Sunday” interviews. Here is how three of her guests answered the question.
“I would say, ‘Stop worrying.’” “There is so much unnecessary worry, so many unnecessary self-judgments, so many negative fantasies about the future.”
Arianna Huffington, Founder, Huffington Post“I would say, ‘Everything is going to be OK, and you can be young.’ I would come in as a 40-year-old and say, ‘I got this. You can go play. I got this.”
Alanis Morissette, Grammy-winning Singer & Songwriter“I would tell my younger self to focus on finding quiet, I think we live in a culture of distraction, and silence is a way to find the center.”
Timothy Shriver, Nephew of President JFKSage advice from all three, don’t you think? I always say, “If you are going to ask the question, you have to be willing to answer it.” So what would be my advice to my younger self? For me, it is these two things:
- Always trust your gut. For as long as I can remember, I have had strong intuition. I have a certain knowing about people and things. It is as if I know things before they happen. This is such a valuable tool to be blessed with. I think we all have this awareness, it is a matter of embracing it and practicing using it to our favor. As I have gone through life, it is always when I haven’t trusted my gut, that I have gotten in trouble, whether it be in business or personal matters. I encourage you to start trusting your gut, it can be a life-saver, literally.
- Your parents did the best that they could. For me, this is big and it is important. I hear all too often people blaming their parents for where they are in their lives. There are those who describe a “Mommy Dearest” type of upbringing by their mom. And there are those who describe a father who was physically and verbally abusive. I am not naïve enough to think that there are some people in the world who are not equipped to be parents. My dad struggled as a parent. He was a guy who got angry easily, yelled a lot and was heavy-handed in his discipline. However, if my younger ‘self’ had been able to have known that my parents were doing the best that they could with the resources they had in raising me my younger years would have been a lot smoother. I would have been less nervous. I would not have taken my dad’s words and actions personally and I would have embraced there was a lot to learn about my own life’s evolution from this guy who was my dad. I have come to know that the only person responsible for my life and my happiness is me. It is not up to anyone else. It never was.
I believe it is through self-confrontation and personal inquiry that we find our way to a freedom-based life. Now it is your turn. Please share your best advice to your younger self with me and others. You never know when something you share will change someone’s life or give them the hope and the courage that they need to start creating a life that they love.
Stay true and be you —
Annie