10 Things I’m Grateful To My Younger Self For

10 Things I’m Grateful To My Younger Self For ©iStock/DeanDrobot

Ah, younger self. You were wise beyond your years, got me to the amazing place I am today, and stuck with me through thick and thin. You stayed true to who you are, and even though you made mistakes, everything you did was a step in the right direction because, after all, if you like where you are, then how you got there can’t be all bad. Here’s what I’d like to thank you for:

  1. Leaving horrible men. I know it was hard, and you loved some of them a lot… but thank you for having the courage to get out of those awful relationships. If you hadn’t, I might not be with the amazing, sexy, man (with an accent) that I’m with now!
  2. Sticking with school. School still sucks, don’t get me wrong. Being a PhD student is not exactly a walk in the park, but I’m so proud of us for sticking with the suck and moving on. Although you may have been hungover in class way too many times, you still went. Go us!
  3. Always putting family first. Even when you were in college, you always put family first. No matter what the occasion or issue, you were there for your family and I’m really proud of you. Now that I know that we lost some family members along the way, it makes it that much more meaningful.
  4. Having bad sex. Although it may seem weird that I’m thanking you for this, I am so glad you had bad sex early, so we figured out what we wanted (and didn’t) and could guide future partners in the right direction.
  5. Having hangovers. Thank you, thank you, thank you for having wicked hangovers before we got old and the recovery period started to take forever. I now can (mostly) respect my limits and not overindulge unless I want to spend the weekend in bed.
  6. Getting silly purchases out of your system. Thank you for getting obsessed with Dooney and Bourke bags and buying every single one in the collection before we grew up and started having actual bills and responsibility. Now we use that money to keep the lights on and buy copious amounts of lipstick… but the lights come first.
  7. Reaching financial goals. Thank you for setting financial goals and reaching them. By achieving these goals, you made us look to the future, full of bigger and greater things. We now set incredible goals and reach them every day!
  8. Doing stupid stuff. I really want to thank you for doing dumb stuff. Society expects us to act like jackasses when we’re young and so we get away with it. By doing so many stupid things when we were young, you saved us from getting in trouble for stuff as we got older.
  9. Changing your mind. Thank you for never settling and for changing your mind often. You were never satisfied with the status quo, and because of that, you had awesome experiences.
  10. Being yourself. Younger me, one thing we’ve never struggled with is knowing who we are and being true to ourselves. Thank you for not giving in to peer pressure to do things that weren’t you, to lose weight, color your hair or anything else. By staying true to who we are, you set us up for a lifetime of success.
C. is an aspiring yogi and Ph.D student who loves her dogs, bright lipstick and to travel. Find her on IG @drparko121314
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