Get more fit now. You won’t have the time or the knees to do it as well, or with as much fun, when you realize you should have.
Pick a few things you like to do, and develop a depth of proficiency at them. “Jack of all trades, master of none” is only cool for sufficiently impressive levels of Jackdom.
Computer games are a fun time waste, but per the previous item, think about long term portability… 20 years from now, you may look back fondly on having solved Zork or Ultimas I through V, but how many hours of Space Taxi are really necessary?
Further in that vein: it may be too late, but don’t ever frotz yourself. It may seem clever, funny and even useful to walk around constantly bathed in a sickly yellow light, bright enough to read by, but what if you end up needing to be in total darkness at some point to notice or to do something critical, and you didn’t even know? You don’t know what I’m talking about, but those writers at Infocom are bad, bad people.
Go ahead and have sex with that less than perfect girl if she is making it clear she wants to (she was by the way). In twenty years your eyes are going to think she looks fantastic and you are going to be wishing you were 15 again. Trust me on this one.
The staying in shape one is great advice to my younger self. I used to figure skate as a kid; since I stopped skating as a teen, I’ve lost almost all my ability to skate. Maybe take up jogging or something - just stay active and make it a lifelong habit.
I’d also say, stay in university and get a degree in something, even if you don’t know what to major in - it would cost about a hundred times more to get a degree now.
Buy all of the Apple and Microsoft stock as soon as you see it listed in the stock exchange. Or buy every silver dollar you can get you hands on when they are $4-$5 a piece.
Learn to play a musical instrument and learn to swim. They will enhance and possible save your life.
And have sex with that not so perfect teenage girl.
Dump that girl you’re with, party with Diane a few times–she likes you but you both know nothing long term will come of it, seriously try to catch Karen–she’s only keeping her distance because you’re with someone. And keep playing football but get into the offensive backfield, you’re too small to play line.
After college, buy heavily into Microsoft and Amazon when they go public. Buy Amazon even more aggressively when the market tanks in 2001. You should be retiring right about now.
Ask out that girl that is always hanging around with you at school. She really is a good match.
Keep walking/running two miles every other day and doing sit ups and pushups. It was doing you a world of good.
Start caring about your appearance, it does matter.
Stop skipping school. Also, don’t drop out, no matter how bored you get. Insist on being put in better classes. Also,ddon’t throw the gifted test just to avoid being labeled a nerd. You’re going to embrace your nerdom later on, so take advantage of it.
Sell that comic collection before 2000. The value is really going to plummet. Use the profit to buy a bunch of patriotic merchandise cheap. It’ll pay off after 9/11/01.
When you feel those sharp pains in your stomach, make tracks for a hospital asap.
When you’re offered your own store to run, take it!
Don’t quit your job just to have more time for a video game.
Spend more time with Dad. He’s a really great guy and once you move away in 7 years you’ll only see him a few times a year, and he’ll be gone before you know it.
It’s a funny thing. I have tons of regrets, and there is so much that I wish I could have done differently in my life, but at least, whenever I had the chance, I *always *made sure to have sex with that less-than-perfect teenage girl.
Good job on that one, young self. Now, there are some other things we need to talk about…
Me too. But then again, I was an awkward 15yo so I was happy to take what I could get.
Dear self,
Don’t take up smoking you stupid idiot!
I know long hair was cool back in the 80’s, but really, you’re just not cut out for long hair. Go for the military cut and I promise, you’ll get more girls.
If you simply must smoke pot, be smart about it and DON’T carry your stash around with you everywhere you go. Leave that shit at the house.
(sigh..) Dukes of Hazzard isn’t real, so don’t try to jump a ramp with your very first car. You’re not going to have a fun time explaining to your parents how you managed to total a car given to you less than three weeks prior.
Give Lisa some kind of contact information. You know her family is moving to SF or something, she is really nice, you do not want to lose touch with this new friend and wonder for the rest of your life about the “wouldas”.
For crying out loud, pay attention to the classes in school even if you hate the subject. You actually will need that info later on. And, sorry to say, you really don’t sing or play any musical instrument well enough to make a living at it. It’s not just a question of practice, you are just not talented enough to be a pro. Same with visual art, it’s a great hobby for you, but you’ll never make a living at it.
Make better grades. You’re capable of it, and a better GPA will give you more scholarship options. Yeah, you can ace any standardized test, but colleges will look at GPAs, too. If you could get a scholarship or two to some college which is out of town, it will be better for you after you graduate.
Be more assertive. Argue more. Right now, you completely give up and give in too easily. Stand up for yourself, people will respect you more. And you are not as introverted as you think you are. Try to make more friends, try to compromise socially, it’s worth it.
That’s kind of how I feel. I have tons of regrets, and–at later stages in my life–things I would have done differently. But my 15-year-old self was working with the best information she had at the time, doing only what other people told her to do and what came naturally to her. I can’t really fault for her anything.
When this topic has come up in the past, I’ve always had a long list of advice for teenage me. It used to make me feel good to beat up on my old self. Kind of like how it sometimes feels good to bully someone smaller and weaker. But I need to stop doing that so much.
If I could go back in time, I’d give myself a big hug and ask if we could be friends.
Get a job, even if it means stocking shelves at the local stationery store.
Do not get a BA in Music. Continue on from your work on stage crew and study set design, carpentry and electronics, and get a job working in the theater, which you freaking loved to do in high school.
Get in shape and stay there, seeing as how there’s a family history of cancer, heart disease & diabetes.
Do not settle in a marriage because you think you’ll never find anybody else you want to marry. Marry because you want to be married to that person.
