I wouldn’t.
If I had the opportunity to go back and talk to seven, ten or 13- year-old me, I simply would not do it. I wouldn’t go back and tell her to beware of certain friendships or say “don’t go to this place at this time because you’ll get hurt,”. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. In the grand scheme of things, no heartbreak, failed friendship or missed opportunity is ever that serious. No negative situation lasts forever, but that situation is fundamental for growth.
Every situation in my life has either taught me a valuable lesson or built my character. I’ve learned what boundaries are and how to set them. I now know what to look for or avoid in friendships and relationships. I’ve come out of every situation mentally stronger and with a different perspective. Maturity is built from one’s life experiences and if there are no hard situations to learn from, there is no growth.
I feel a concerning number of things could go wrong. In every time travel movie ever, the main character goes back in time and sees their younger self tells them something they shouldn’t and then changes the course of their life. That is terrifying.
What if I tell my younger self to avoid a certain situation that connects to a situation that changed my life for the better. I feel like if I did go back and talk to myself, I would never get over it and I would be anxious going into everything. That or I would dwell on different ways my life could go instead of appreciating that life I currently live. It would cause me to forever question how something will affect my future instead of living in the moment. All that life-long trouble is not worth one conversation with my younger self.
I used to believe that I would want talk to a younger me, that I would tell her exactly what happens, all these amazing things about herself and that life gets better. As I get older and dive deeper into the fundamental parts of my life, they make me realize that I wouldn’t have a conversation with my younger self. One of the most beautiful aspects of life is being able to experience every part of it. I cannot go back and change the past and that’s life. The trials and tribulations of girlhood are key aspects in the journey that I had to take to find my confidence and learn my self-worth.