To my 20 year-old self, from me at 32.

To my 20 year-old self, from me at 32.

If I could speak to my 20 year old self, what would say? (In no specific order)

1. Speak Up

Speak up, make yourself heard and exude confidence. If you have something to say, then say it and stop making excuses. You will not regret it. But you will regret and painfully remember each and every time that you should have spoken up, no matter how little the issue was/is, like in 7^th grade when you were desperate to enter the math competition at a local high school, but too timid to tell your teacher that you really wanted to do it. Gabriela, you probably would have won it.

2. Enjoy your alone time – and turn off the ‘insert expletive’ TELEVISION.

Don’t sweat spending your Friday nights alone and don’t for goodness sakes waste your weekends watching tv, and sulking about being alone. Gabriela, in your twenties you often go for long runs by the seaside and stop to think about what is going to happen and who you are going to meet. Instead, take in the scenery, enjoy the moment and go for a longer run, or pick up another hobby. But don’t ever feel sad about being alone and don’t watch reality tv. It will rot you from the inside out. Once you have kids, you will NEVER be alone, not even in your thoughts.

3. Travel

You  know that study abroad year that you are thinking of taking? TAKE IT! Take two! You will never regret travelling or seeing the world. All the reasons you can think to make you stay, aren’t really important enough to make you stay. So go.

4. Career & Children : You can’t have it all

No-one is going to tell you this, and at 20, you don’t yet know how badly you will want children and how much you will love being in their company once you have them. However, no one is going to tell you that you can’t have it all. You can’t have an amazing career and be there for your children at the same time. You will have to choose at some point or play the balancing game, take a pay cut or give up some time with your children. You won’t manage both of them 100%. That’s just life.

5. Write

You love writing. You always have. Write as often as you can. And that book you’ve been wanting to write for the last year? Write it. At 32 by 8:30pm you will just want to be in bed and you will daily regret not yet having written that book.

6. Volunteer

Keep volunteering for causes greater than yourself. You are but one person on this planet and despite your greatest problem, you are very very fortunate compared to most of the planet. 

7. Eat right – Your metabolism is going to slow down one. Enough said.

8. Always call your mom and dad. They really love you.