If you don’t do stupid things while you’re young, you’ll have nothing to laugh about when you’re old.
How many stupid things did you do when you were younger, that you are laughing about now?
Was there a good reason in your mind to have done them at the time?
When you reflect back, are you able to laugh and celebrate the enthusiasm of your youth?
“I don’t know what it’s like to be old, but I think it’s long enough to look back at the things that were once breaking your heart… and laugh.” That was on a greeting card, written by Merritt Malloy, which I found when I was in my teens. I pondered the wisdom of the statement and wondered if in fact when I get older, would I be able to reflect backwards with a different sentiment than that which I was feeling at the time.
Unquestionably, age gives us perspective that we did not have in our youth. It gives us opportunity to see the wisdom, or lack thereof, of choices and decisions that we made and helps us to understand the entire circumstances under which those determinations were decided.
The same, I believe, holds true for the silly or stupid things that we did when we were young.
At the time they might have seemed most appropriate and projected the most fortuitous of all possible outcomes, but in reality, the truth is, there were many of them that were not the wisest of moves… and with the knowledge that we hold at this point in time, appear to be more ill chosen then we might have presumed then at the moment that we were opting for them.
Our individual personalities inevitably give way to options that others might not have made or chosen under similar circumstances, but that is part of what makes each of us so unique, and collectively all of those options have gotten each one of us to where we are currently.
If we drill down to the essence of choices made, we must take into consideration whom we were at that moment in time, which life experiences we had yet to experience, and why our respective processes lead us to making them.
With all of those variables in place, we are capable of understanding and therefore forgiving our younger selves for having made those determinations. Standing on the shoulders of the knowledge gained through those experiences, we are wise to reflect and learn, such that we do not repeat them in the future.
When you have a moment, take the time to reflect back on a few of them. Enjoy the time travel experience of your journey backwards to a younger and more innocent version of yourself. Love (and laugh at) them and celebrate them for helping to create you!
Happy Monday!
Brian Weiner 