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30-DAY WRITING CHALLENGE / 19 SEPTEMBER 2022
Wisdom I Wished I Understood When I Was Younger
My relationship with money would be different
Life doesn’t come with a do-over.
Looking back, I have managed to trip into the trap of some regret. You know the one that goes, “if only I knew then, what I know now…” spiel. We have a treasure trove of wisdom around us. Elders who have quoted these words and spouted much insight. Yet generation after generation has failed to take heed. Why? Because in many young minds, “they just don’t understand.”
Listening to my own kids, I am amazed at how much I do understand. I did not face everything that they are facing now, but the emotions are still the same. The sting of first love breakups, the wonder of passion, the hurt of friends’ betrayal, and the indecisiveness of what I want to do with my life.
At 16, I definitely did not know how to answer that. Even today, I still don’t have an answer for that. What I have learned, and I constantly share with my own kids, is that at 16, it is okay not to have it all figured out.
If I could send what I have learned back to my younger self, I would say: