WE ASKED OUR FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS…

What advice would you
give to your younger self?

Some things aren’t worth fighting for if the fighting is one-sided. It’s OK to let go of people and things that no longer bring you happiness.

— Ashley Lasiter

Be kind to yourself  (and go to therapy).

— Brittany Reuss

Remember that richness in life doesn’t come through money (although money can ease worry). Fill your life with joy and make enough to save some for the future, some for emergencies, and the rest to support your life and lifestyle. Ride out the waves because there will be some, and never forget it’s OK to ask for help. Develop your village.

— Lilly Winkeljohn

Find a therapist for yourself! If I had figured out a therapist should have a therapist earlier, who knows what life would look like today?

— Beth Leuenberger Orns

Don’t forget that everyone else is doing life for the first time, too.

— Brandi Lynne

Don’t take life too seriously; you’ll never make it out alive. I’d tell my younger self to worry less about proving myself and spend more time enjoying the process. Some of the best opportunities, relationships, and lessons come when you stop trying to control every outcome.

— Nathan Todd

Most decisions and choices deserve a second look. Make sure you take it.

— Ruth Friar

Take a pause. There is always time for a few deep breaths. Love hard, and let go easily.

— Kari Thomas Utterback

When faced with a tough decision between this or that, stop and consider, in five years, what will you wish you would have done? It’ll almost never steer you wrong. And it’ll almost never be that “important” meeting and will most always be family. (Work isn’t family.) You will never remember the meeting you missed, but you’ll remember the family moments you missed.

— Suzanne Rothwell

Don’t let a person get in the way of your college plans. A few years really isn’t long at all.

— Shelia Kable Mastalski

Care more about the outcome than about getting credit for the answer. Ask good questions, invest in relationships, and try to leave people and organizations stronger than you found them.

— Robin Weneker

Most difficult experiences present
an opportunity for learning or personal growth.

— Alex Withrow

If you rent, get rental insurance. Tornadoes happen.

— Roger McKinney

Don’t forget to slow down and breathe. Be present. Tell your people that you love them often. And please be more kind to yourself.

— Kelsey Winkeljohn

You can’t give your life more time, so give the time you have more life.

— Vicki Blackwell Whitney

You don’t have to earn your worth
by suffering. Walk away the first
time someone shows you they
don’t value you.

— Leah Nichole

Nobody thinks about you as much as you think about yourself. Cut yourself some slack.

— Garrett Walker

Everything is gonna be just fine!

— Michele Spry

Don’t be so hard on yourself when your life doesn’t turn out exactly how you planned it. You’ll find out you’ve ended up exactly where you were meant to be.

— Diamond Scott

Slow down. You spent your teens and twenties white-knuckling toward every opportunity like someone was about to take it back. Now at 33, you’re finally slowing down enough to see all of the versions of yourself that were possible — all of the paths that certainty never let you near. You had time. You still have time. Spend it being curious instead of certain. And in that same breath, speed up. Stop interrogating every choice. Say yes more often. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Let yourself be bad at things. Start before you feel ready. Better yet, start even when you’re convinced it’s too late. P.S. Please get pet insurance. Just trust me on this.

— Jordan Watts

Have a thick skin and a tender heart.

— Andrea Waner

In the words of Dwight Schrute, “Ask yourself, ‘Would an idiot do this? And if an idiot would do it, don’t do it. Don’t be an idiot.’”

— Jodie Jackson Jr