As an adult now, what life lesson do you wish your younger self knew?

现在已是成年人的你，希望年轻时自己能懂得哪些人生教诲呢？

下面是7位网友的分享，看看他们都想跟年轻的自己说点什么？

1. Emily Filloramo

The Universe conspires¹ to purposely give us negative experiences for the evolution of our souls.

在心灵成长方面，上天似乎蓄意要给我们设下糟糕的经历。

There are going to be many painful moments but rest assured that there is a bigger purpose behind the pain.

生活会充满许多痛苦时刻，但痛苦之下定有远大目标。

It is up to us to connect the dots of our lives looking backwards² and make “lemonade” out of our lemons.

所以需要我们自己懂得反思过去，将生活中的点滴串联起来，努力把“柠檬”变成“柠檬汁”。

Watch Steve Job’s Stanford Commencement Address ”How to Live Before You Die”, where he talks about connecting the dots of your life looking backwards.

去看看乔布斯斯坦福大学毕业演讲《死前该怎样生活》，里面就讲到要回顾过去，把生活中的点点滴滴串联起来。

2. Katie Simpson

I wish I could tell my younger self to pursue what gives me joy, what makes me passionate³. Not in the sense of chasing happiness but finding meaning, contentment every day. I was so worried about what others thought of me, I didn’t give any weight to my own thoughts or opinions. I got lost in expectation, in what I should do, rather than what I wanted.

我希望能告诉年轻时的自己，去追寻能给我快乐和激情的事情。不是说要寻求快乐，而是每天要能过得知足而有意义吧。年轻时我总是担心别人会怎么看我，却从不曾关心过自己内心的想法或观点。我迷失在他人的期望中，做着应该做的事情，而不是自己渴望做的事情。

In the end, our lives are our own. We must live each and every moment til death. It won’t always be easy nor fun. Still, pursuing passion has made my life worthwhile. It gives me the sense that I give my life purpose. For me, that is enough.

归根结底，我们的人生只属于我们自己。所以，活着的时候就应该过好每一分每一秒。有时这既不容易也不有趣。可是，跟随激情却能让我活得有价值有意义，让我觉得生活是有奔头的。对我来说，这就够了。

This is a very personal experience, but my younger self was much wiser, braver and daring than my older self… When we’re young life is an adventure, we’re fearless, brave and don’t think of the consequences ( or get paralysed by fear ) as much as when we’re older and went through a series of disappointments, rough times and lack of perspectives. We pile up negative emotions based on negative experiences we barely even knew exist when we were young so….

这纯粹是个人经历，不过年轻时的我要比现在更加聪明勇敢吧……年轻时，生活就是一场冒险，我们无所畏惧、勇敢且不计后果（或者被恐惧吓破了胆）；长大之后，我们经历了一系列的失望、困难和无助，由于这些年轻时想都想不到的糟糕经历，我们变得越来越消极……

I would have to put it the other way around. What life lessons would my younger self wish my older self would keep in mind? I wish my older self could remember more often to live without fears, without over thinking about consequences or let negative past events dictate⁴ my decisions.

我宁愿换个方式来讲述：年轻时的自己希望现在的我能知道怎样的人生教诲呢？希望现在的我能时刻记得要无所畏惧地生活，不要纠结于后果或让过去的不快经历影响我的决定。

Every day is a new day and a new chance to improve, push out boundaries and grow. The past is gone and taking life too seriously won’t make it brighter .

每天都是新的一天，是提高自我、打破界限并获得成长的新机会。过去的已经过去，太一本正经并不能让生活变得更阳光。

3. Chris Haigh

The lesson I wish I could have told my younger self is that life is almost never how you plan it. It unfolds in strange and terrifying and sometimes wonderful ways, but trying to control life is almost impossible – that’s not to say that you can’t control how you react to the stuff that happens.

我希望年轻时的自己能知道的人生教诲就是，生活从来都不是你计划的那样。生活以陌生、可怕或精彩的方式呈现出来，而企图控制生活几乎是不可能的——当然，这不是说你无力控制自己应对变故的方式。

Be fluid, be flexible. Enjoy what happens and let your life go where it’s supposed to go. You’ll be happier as a result. And most importantly – you’re going to be okay.

要灵活应变，要享受当下、随遇而安，然后你会更快乐。而且最重要的是——你会过得还不错吧。

4. Jeanne Floresca

I would tell my younger self to trust her intuition. That it will never steer⁵ her wrong.

我想告诉年轻时的自己，要相信直觉。直觉永远都不会指错路。

I realize I could have saved myself from a lot of stupid drama in my younger adult years if I just listened to my gut⁶ instinct more.

我发现，如果年轻时能多听从直觉的话，或许就能避免很多愚蠢的经历。

The older I get, the more it is confirmed; I know what is right for me and it comes from a deep knowing. I guess you can call it “knowledge from your higher-self.”

越长大我就越确信这一点；我知道什么是适合我的，从内心深处就知道了。我想这就是所谓 “更高自我的觉悟” 吧。

I would also emphasize to my younger self to nurture⁷ her spirituality because this is how she will hone her intuitive powers.

我还想告诉年轻时的自己，要培养精神成长，因为这样才能让自己的直觉力量变强大。

Yes, I said “powers” because I want her to know she is the hero of her story and all heroes have powers.

没错，我说的是“力量”，因为我希望年轻时的自己知道，“她”就是故事中的主角，而所有主角都拥有自己的力量。

5. Liz Brazier

I would want to sit my younger self down and tell it “you are not a failure if your life doesn’t follow the traditional marriage and children path”.

我想让年轻时的自己坐下来，然后告诉她：“要是不走传统的结婚生子那条路，你也不是失败的人。”

Telling my younger self that success in life for you does not have to be shown by having a long term relationship, and that you offer so much to the world as you uniquely are.

我想告诉年轻时的自己：成功不一定就是能维持长久的伴侣关系，你是独一无二的，你也为世界作了很多贡献。

Additionally, letting the young me know that peace and happiness comes from focusing on living your life in this present moment versus⁸ worrying about decisions made in the past or events that may never happen in the future.

而且，我还希望年轻时的自己知道，平静与快乐来自对当下生活的享受，而不是为过去已经做出的决定或将来尚未发生的事情而担忧。

6. Alex Strike

Now, looking back, I understand that my younger self was not confident enough. And maybe it will sound weird⁹, but he thought a lot before doing something. All these “and what if…”, “what they will think” things, you know.

现在回顾过去，我发现年轻时的自己不够自信。或许听上去有些奇怪，但当时我做事之前总是顾虑很多，总是想着“万一……”或“别人会怎么想……”之类的，你懂的。

I would tell him “hey man, you are 18 (19,20 whatever)! Don’t be afraid of trying, risking, and following your dreams!”

我想告诉年轻时的自己：“嗨，你才18岁（19岁或20岁，随便）！别害怕去尝试、冒险并追寻梦想！”

And one more thing… I would advise him not to be afraid of love. Yes, it hurts sometimes, but it is a real blessing¹⁰ to experience this feeling, especially if it is mutual¹¹, but you are stupid enough not to understand that, and scared to accept that.

还有就是，我希望年轻时的自己不要畏惧爱情。是的，爱情有时会让人受伤，但能经历一场爱情还是很美好的——尤其是两情相悦的话。可当时我太傻，不懂也不敢面对它。

7. Bookie Efstat

I would have loved my younger self to know just this one thing: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - Roosevelt”. Or in other words, just that fear holds you back, does not let you live your life to the fullest, or let you make enough mistakes in order to reach your potentials, while at the same time it is totally meaningless and mostly irrational¹².

我只希望年轻时的自己能知道这一点：“我们唯一害怕的只是害怕本身。——罗斯福”，或者换句话说，当时我真的就被害怕给绊住了，没能尽情享受生活，或为了挖掘潜能而犯下很多错误，虽然这些错误可能毫无意义或极其冲动。

So if my younger self was in front of me now I would say: Too many regrets come from things we did not do just from fear of the outcome. And a life without regrets is all I would ever hope for. Please challenge your fears now!

所以，如果年轻时的自己就在我面前，我会说：“很多后悔都是因为我们当时害怕后果而没能去做那些事情。但我从没期望过完全没有悔恨的生活。所以，现在请向你的恐惧发起挑战吧！”