A few months ago either on Facebook or CNN or a magazine I flipped through....somewhere I saw the question "what would you tell your fifteen year old self if you could?" My first reaction was to wince because fifteen going on sixteen is when I became chronically ill. And I thought of all the past selves I felt ill-equipped to advise, that's the toughest one.
My second reaction was, "Oh, wow. She so wouldn't want to hear from me." That fifteen year old Cynthia knew everything and didn't need any advice from anyone. That Cynthia liked this John Lennon quote: "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." And yet she still had her life all planned out. Every last detail.
I've thought a lot about this and I think I know what I'd tell her. First, I'd break it to her gently that absolutely nothing would happen according to her plan. Some things would happen, but out of the order she expected; some things she was sure of wouldn't happen at all, and some things she never expected to happen would happen. But that whole sequence of events? Uh, yeah, just let that go now.
And then I'd tell her, "Cynthia, you're going to have an amazing and rich life, full of pain and joy, love and loss, and while you won't enjoy every moment, you will look back on your journey--past, present, and future--and be proud to claim it as yours."
And I'd say one last thing: "You know this little computer company called Apple? Buy stock in it. You'll thank me later."
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