Theres many things I would do differently if I had the chance to re-live my 20s. In fact - if I could travel 10 years back in time, and meet my younger equivalent - Id drag him out a pub (which he wasnt overly fond of doing back then), and just lay it out, no punches pulled, over a few rounds of Guinness. Id tell him not to waste a single second of mental energy wondering about what hes supposed to be doing. Or whether his aspirations were in line with some sort of divine trajectory. Or if he should wait for some sort of purpose to be revealed. (Soon enough, hed discover that - regardless of whatever we are, and whatever were ultimately doing here - the one thing we can all count on, for sure, is that one day, the clocks gonna run out. And in the meantime you can spend that time worrying about how you should be spending your time... or you can just do things that make you happy. The latter is far more fulfilling.) Id tell him that life is far more interesting when you aim to ask questions... rather than answer them. Id tell him not to trade his health for the pursuit of success. That while theres nothing wrong with focused ambition... theres a reason why every successful, self-made middle-aged (or older) millionaire is obsessed with one, central objective: To appear youthful and vibrant. And on that note - Id tell him to stop creating self-imposed limitations, or pre-requisite pilgrimages, when it comes to just enjoying yourself and having fun. That years down the road, youll sorely regret everything you missed out on, for the sake of working hard... and that you will absolutely NOT regret the occasions that you did let loose, and just had a good time. Id tell him that, at the end of the day, the people who matter are the ones who dont equate your value to some economic scale, or who you are on paper. And that the people who DO actually care about that shit are shallow, vapid and insecure. Their layer of polish is milimeter-thin, and it rubs off with the slightest application of adversity. So dont live to impress insecure people. Id tell him that the secret to happiness, if there is one, is to simply surround yourself with people youre proud to call friends, and have adventures with them. And that, for many reasons, people like that are few and far between. Id tell him not to take things so seriously. That at best, we are sentient, upright primates who are still finding our way. Literal observers in an unimaginably vast and inexplicable universe... a mere blip on the cosmic timescale. And in the same way... profoundly lucky, by several orders of magnitude beyond our own comprehension, that we even exist (and can comprehend that fact). Id tell him that the accumulation of wealth plays a very limited role, in contrast to happiness. That it was just as much fun - possibly moreso - to collect longboards, as it will be to collect Porsches. But most of all, Id tell him that the one thing he absolutely cant screw up - the one thing which, above everything else, will truly make him happy - is that beautiful girl he just started dating, named Sarah. All the rest of it can go to hell, so long as you have her, and keep your relationship strong. That loving her, and embarking on various adventures with her, and simply being with her, will bring you more happiness and satisfaction than any belief system, any level of success, or any other goal youre striving for. By several orders of magnitude. And then wed down one last guinness, leave the pub, and Id climb back in my time machine, and travel back to 2014 - and do my best to follow my own advice, for the next decade, and then some. ---------------------------- Its been eight years since Sarah Rempel and I got married, and began our adventure of sharing life as a couple. The experiences weve had, the friends weve made, and what weve discovered about life together has been unbelievably amazing, and fulfilling. Sarah is a paradox - shes the woman that isnt supposed to exist. Strikingly beautiful physically, and yet actually even more impressive as a person. Everyone else Ive met who even comes close to Sarahs level (in terms of physical beauty) is just a hollow shell... only impressive from a distance. Sarah is literally the opposite of all of that. And that is why I fell in love with her, a decade ago. So heres to another decade, with the most amazing woman Ive ever known, and that youll ever meet. Im the luckiest man I know. I love you Sarah. Happy anniversary!
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 23:18:33 +0000
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