Anthony Clark
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You meet your 13 year old self, but you can only tell them 3 words. What do you say and why?
This question “You meet your 13 year old self, but you can only tell them 3 words. What do you say and why?” was discussed so that we all can learn from one another and also contribute in the comment section
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by kiwipangolin – Source
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Don’t fucking smoke
Love dad more.
HUG YOUR DAD
…he died when I was 18.
Yes Kimmy California. My sister wanted to move to california near where I was living. My life was really complicated at the time and I really discouraged it. My marriage was a mess and I was afraid it would make it worse. She stayed where she was. About a year later she was killed by a drunk driver. My marriage ended. I would do literally anything to still have my sister here.
“Stay off ATVs”. Rolled a 4-wheeler when I was 16. Left leg has never been the same.
Don’t smoke, dumbass
Edit: yes I know, “don’t” is technically two words when written out. But I’m not writing a letter or note to 13 year old chef_in_va, I would be speaking it out loud. And “don’t smoke, dumbass” is three words when spoken.
Don’t smoke cigarettes.
DON’T FORGET ABOUT-
Keep making music
Stop copying others
Evie needs help.
Maybe then I’ll still have my big sister.
Pretty sure with three German words you could write a short story…
Give mom love. She would pass away a year later.
Drugs ruined you
DONT MARRY JEFF.
Hug dad more
Brush your teeth
Get brother help.
Edit: Hey all, I just want to say how touched I am by all of the replies to this. Three words brought so many people together; that is amazing if you think about it. Three words… many interpretations, all revolving around a similar state of mind. I just want to add three more words and a gesture I think about daily when I think of my brother:
**”I Love you”** *Hug*
Use these with family and friends as much as you can. Tomorrow can be too late.
You are autistic.
That’s my three words. That would’ve solved so many god damn problems, knowing who I am
Edit: thank you so much for the awards 🥰 this is my first gold and y’all are so kind 😭
A PSA to other fellow autistics who struggle with it. Go get a trampoline and jump! It can rewire your brain.
Ignore dad’s….everything
Mom kills herself.
My only regret is how I dealt with the years of lead up, 13 would’ve been early enough for me to have made a difference, maybe…
Go to therapy
ETA: Aw I’m so glad this resonated with people, and thank you for the award! I finally went to therapy in my mid 20s, and it improved my quality of life so much.
Stay in school
Don’t trade Charizard.
I wish I could say I’d phrase out investing in bitcoin like others, but ultimately I’d tell myself
Floor, call 911.
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My mom was asleep on the couch when I was 16, I woke up in the middle of the night and she had fallen off the couch and onto the floor. I woke my sister up and we thought nothing of it – so we helped her back up and she fell back to sleep. My sister woke up at like 7am and my mom was essentially unresponsive on the couch, pulse, etc. but unresponsive. Turns out she had a stroke in her sleep due to an aneurysm. She was paralyzed on the entire left-side of her body and had to relearn basically everything from scratch. – her life was never the same and she suffered from a myriad of health issues for the next 25 years of her life and ultimately succumbed to cancer two years ago. While it’s not about me, my life essentially completely changed from that moment forward and has shaped who I am today (spiteful, vengeful, complete nutcase, etc.). Anyways, I’d try and tell my younger self to call 911 and maybe things would be different for her.
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**Edit:** Holy crap everyone, thanks for the all the love, awards, comments, etc. you lovable internet strangers! Didn’t think my comment would get so much attention! I’m so sorry for all those that have or are experiencing things of the same nature. While there is the logical side of my brain that understands that even going back to that moment, even calling 911 wouldn’t make much of a different, but there’s always going to be that illogical side of my brain that refuses to believe any of that and will always blame myself (hence heaps and loads and years of therapy, etc.). But again I thank you all for the love, this is the most upvotes I’ve ever received, I’m framing it!
Don’t.
Do.
Heroin.
ETA:
I’m doing quite well. Better than I deserve tbh. Just 20 years behind where I would’ve been.
But it’s all good. Wouldn’t trade what I have for anything.
ETA2:
“better than I deserve” refers to all the shady shit I did for which I didn’t get caught.
And thank you so much for all the kind words. Everybody deserves happiness. But I’ve found that happiness is an inside job.
No student loans. Then a slap to drive the point home.
Listen to dad
My mom was batshit insane and alienated her kids from dad. Would have saved me a lot of tears had I never trusted her.
WEAR A CONDOM
(grinning): “brush your teeth!”
Treat her better
Tim dies young,
So that I would make every moment I spent with him count, and I never would have abandoned him. He’s gone over 30 years now, I am 61 and I still wake up crying. I read back then that it takes half the time you know someone to forget them. I promised myself that would never happen. I am sorry Tim, we were little children when we first became friends. I am a grown man now and I think of you and miss you every single day….
I don’t even know what to say about the response to this I am seeing just now. How nice. Yes, my story is real, I have posted about it before, how I have 3 different types of dreams where i am with Tim. In one, I know right from the beginning that he is gone. In these I weep until I wake. The 2nd type is where it is during the dream (you know how a dream seems to last hours but really it is a relatively short period) when we are just playing or fishing (we were on the cover of the Long Island Fisherman when we were young boys. I, being able to drive when we got a bit older, would take Tim out fishing even though I pretty much hated fishing, but I loved Tim) whatever it is we are doing in the dream It will suddenly hit me that he is gone. I wake from these and just sit and cry, still after all these years. These are the worst of the 3. In the 3rd type, I hang out with Tim all day, or night. It is not until after I wake I know he is gone. You know how something during the day something will trigger the memory of the dream you had the night before, well that happens at any time. I could be in a business meeting and just a word, or an image will bring the dream back. While those are the best of the 3 for me, most times I have to excuse myself from whatever it is I am doing.
About 33 years now, and I sit and cry when I think of him. When i see two old friends meet, sometimes in a video here on Reddit, I sit and cry because I so often get a feeling that I am going to turn around and he is going to be standing there, but I know that is never going to happen. As I said, we were little boys who became long time friends, not knowing it would not be long enough. We had the same life, as in no parents, sometimes no home, yes, even as boys. We’ve lived together and always made sure each other had a roof to sleep under. Our friends parents were great, they really were. They always invited us for dinner on holidays, but, it is hard to explain, we always felt like we were outside a window looking in on a loving family. Tim and I would spend Thanksgiving with each other, from when we were boys, till young adulthood, and we would split a Turkey hero, sort of as a joke. I have a loving family of my own now, still though, I continued eating a Turkey hero for many many years.
Thank you for the kindness…..
I want to add, for those that mention therapy, or getting help, this is my therapy. I have posted here before, on this topic, it is my therapy. I thought I would make my post, have a cry, and go to bed. I never thought that this would receive the response it has. There is no therapy one could pay for that could compare to what has happened here. I am overwhelmed with the response this has received. I hope everyone takes some time tonight to remember someone they loved, and lost, and I hope you are well enough, and strong enough to appreciate a good old fashioned cry. The tiredness, the sense of relief it can bring is welcomed most of the time. I am sorry for all those who have suffered such a loss.
You were abused