Spiritual lessons for your younger self

iBrian

iBrian

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I was thinking that if I could speak to myself in the past, I would definitely remind myself that everything will always be alright in the end and not to stress too much about anything. I used to be pretty chill, but I got quite stressed at the responsibility of raising a family, especially over money issues and worrying how I could provide for them. There are times when this has made me quite ill. I guess the problem is that I never had money, so when I thought I needed it I became stressed over it - but with hindsight, it was never an issue I needed to worry about.

So, past Brian, just stay chill and relaxed - don't worry about a thing, because every little thing is going to be all right. :)
 
I had a 'break' around 16. The importance of non attachment, mindfulness, and temperance in relationships became very apparent, and I hoped to change my life with these principles.

I was told I was nuts, discouraged, sometimes insulted... I desisted after so much negativity.

I'd reach back, shake myself, and say "don't listen to them! You're doing the right thing!"
 
Personally I would remind myself that the laws of God contained great wisdom and need to be followed, even if we do not understand the underlying wisdom.

I would also tell myself to learn and practice patience, as when we embrace the Love of God, we are always tested.

The quandary is, when would you choose to tell yourself this and would we listen?

Regards Tony
 
I feel my younger self, with all of my mistakes did pretty good. I don't know what I could have told me, because I didn't listen that well.

For me, my thoughts and acceptance of my physical issues from my aortic dissection and strokes proves that I have a comfort with life and death and struggle that more than satisfies me.

If I would wish anything it would be I left sunday school and conventional American church earlier and explored eastern religion and interfaith studies earlier. However I don't know how I would have done that.
 
I wish I could be a therapist to my younger self. I would like to get my younger self to minimize the overthinking and help my younger self reframe quite a few things.

My wish is that it would be possible to convince Young Me to be less concerned by what others thought of me, less concerned about getting in trouble or offending authority, (or anybody else for that matter, family, peers, acquaintances, strangers, you name it) and also to tone down some of the pie in the sky ambitions as that along with everything else I just said confounded me, hampered my decision making, and exhausted me -- ultimately keeping me indecisive and costing me way too much time.

If I could go back and be my young self again with my current knowledge, I think I'd make a ton of different decisions. At the very least, I'd do a number of things earlier and more decisively.
 
I wish I, the me of today, the therapist I am today, could be a persistent resource for my Younger Self.

If only I could be on some kind of forum to the past for my younger self, something Teen Self could have accessed -- I don't know how as we didn't have forums in those days and we (our household) didn't have a computer anyway. I have heard of people writing letters to their Younger Self but that would be best if they were something that my Teen Self could actually read and open and use. Really I wish I could be on a live forum with Younger Self on the regular answering my/her questions. Teen self needed more helpful adult input and moral support.

I wish I could tell Young Self specifically Teen Self things that would actually help re-frame things and minimize distortions and negativity. Maybe persist more on the meditation tapes my mom was doing so well.

I would tell myself not to put so much energy into building social connections at school, and not to put any more time into that Methodist youth group. (The experience discouraged me from making efforts with anything church related later in college, which I wish I had done)

I would tell myself to make some rearrangements in my learning strategies at school and on my own as follows:

Put more time into the piano lessons I waited my whole childhood to finally have as a teen, and make different decisions about art and music electives in school.

Push to join interest groups when I was in Jr High instead of accepting that you had to be in high school to do them, because by then they were gone. And not bothering with some pursuits that ended up not being positive.

The difference produced by these seemingly mundane things may have been profound to my spiritual and mental health.

I also do know that if I did some things differently, it is at least possible I could be saying the same things now but in reverse. 😆
 
TheLightWithin said:
I also do know that if I did some things differently, it is at least possible I could be saying the same things now but in reverse. 😆
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That does it, time to start a new thread?

A challenge...spend some time contemplating, cogitatating, circumambulating...meditate some, access your higher self, your future self ...

What would your future self say to you today?

If you think you know, are you willing to comply?
 
wil said:
That does it, time to start a new thread?

A challenge...spend some time contemplating, cogitatating, circumambulating...meditate some, access your higher self, your future self ...

What would your future self say to you today?

If you think you know, are you willing to comply?
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I couldn't even fathom the future self...

Life's thrown so many unexpecteds at me, I don't pretend to have the foggiest idea of what comes next.
 
wil said:
That does it, time to start a new thread?

A challenge...spend some time contemplating, cogitatating, circumambulating...meditate some, access your higher self, your future self ...

What would your future self say to you today?

If you think you know, are you willing to comply?
Click to expand...
Teenage Self was obsessed with Future Self and what a hot shot I was going to be.
I am not sure what the response would be to Current Self, being so insightful and analytic but so not a hotshot.

Nevertheless, if I could convince Past Self to reframe (my) outlook on things and adjust a few things as I referred to above. I think not only would my mental and spiritual health have been better my education could have benefited. In some cases it would be a no brainer, in other cases I would have to reflect on some of the trade offs.

I tend to frame these questions as changing the past, kind of like in that Canadian TV show from 20 years ago called Being Erica. Good show. The main character got sent back in time and make different decisions. Results were sometimes mixed.
 
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wil said:
What would your future self say to you today?
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JustGeorge said:
I couldn't even fathom the future self...
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There's a YouTube Channel called Hello Future Me, which I saw the name of all the time and didn't get to follow up on.
I thought it was a self help channel hosted by a woman. But it seems to be a channel devoted to fantasy fiction writing hosted by a man.
 
I have a wonderful wife, wonderful kids and three, you guessed it, wonderful grandchildren. Earlier in my life, remember I entered the rabbinate at an age when many rabbis are close to retirement, I found myself in situations where I stopped two men from taking their own lives. I would not want to take a chance that anything I said to my younger self would alter what I have, who I have, and what I did.
 
wil said:
I think current self isn't giving past and current self enough credit...wither that or you are only playing the hotshot here...
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Well, teenage fantasies of wealth and fame... LEVEL NOT ACHIEVED!!
 
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RabbiO said:
I have a wonderful wife, wonderful kids and three, you guessed it, wonderful grandchildren. Earlier in my life, remember I entered the rabbinate at an age when many rabbis are close to retirement, I found myself in situations where I stopped two men from taking their own lives. I would not want to take a chance that anything I said to my younger self would alter what I have, who I have, and what I did.
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It is most encouraging that you have joy and satisfaction in what and who you have and what you have done in life. It sounds like you have done many things just the way you needed to. 🙏
 
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