What would you say to your younger self?

‘What would you say to your younger self?’ is a rather poignant question, and one that when it was posed to me recently, made me think long and hard.

Perhaps I would say study harder at school, enjoy your school days and don’t wish your childhood away. There is plenty of time to stay up late, learn to drive, drink alcohol and hang out with boys.

The reality is that as parents we are going to be saying the things we would likely want to say to our younger self, to our children. As a mother to a son, my comments may differ slightly, but the ultimate meanings would be the same. Have fun, don’t take life too seriously and don’t wish it away.

Perhaps I would say enjoy more sport, exercise regularly and look after your body, those are important ones. Oh, and don’t get a tattoo on a wimm when you are 16, that looks nothing like a butterfly! Don’t make your parents buy you a £800 cello if you are going quit 2 weeks later and don’t, I repeat don’t, take your bad eating habits, like licking the inside of a custard cream, outside of the house to a board meeting.

But what if you had to say one thing?

I think that I would say capture everything. Write it down, photograph it, draw it; make memories and cherish them. Don’t regret them. Everything in life is an experience, good or bad. What is most important is that you learn from bad experiences and remember and cherish the good ones.

It scares me how much I have already forgotten (I have a notoriously bad memory!) So I would tell my younger self to capture everything in one way or another. Good or bad!

NB: I was asked the question as part of Legal and General’s #youngerself campaign to encourage people to take out live insurance. More details of the campaign and life insurance offerings can be found here on the Legal and General Website.