Have you ever wished that you could go back in time and change the past? We know a lot of us here at The Shona Project do! It’s hard to not look back at the situations you were in when you were younger and cringe at how you dealt with them. Sure, sometimes we look at the situations we were in last week and cringe at how we managed them. But that’s okay because we are only human, we make mistakes and we can learn from them.

 

While we don’t claim to know everything yet, we feel as though our past experiences have made us wiser. Perhaps we can help stop the younger generation from wincing at their past selves and maybe even help someone get out of a toxic relationship, which a lot of us seemed to have found ourselves stuck in when we were younger.

 

So, we asked some of our older viewers to share what they wish they had known when they were younger, in hopes of helping some of our younger viewers (or anyone) that is in need of advice. 

 

1. I wish someone had advised me to take up yoga at a young age to support my mental and physical well-being and told me that there are many, many paths to get you to your goals and each path you take brings new learning along the way.
2. Try not to compare yourself personally to others – men or women.
3. Do practice comparison between groups using gender-disaggregated data because you need to be armed with facts.
4. Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind. The race is long, it’s only with yourself.~  M Schmich
5. Family is more important than friends.
6. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking someone else keeps you safe. You have to be strong for yourself. You are capable.
7. There is no one else alive who could do a better job of being you, than you!!
8. Care less about what boys think of you! Love your friends more x
9. There are people who look like you who also struggle with their mental health. And that’s okay!
10. A bully’s behaviour is a reflection of them, not you. Remind yourself of this when it feels like “you’re fault”.
11. Your quirks are what makes you wonderful. Anyone who can’t see that doesn’t deserve to be your friend.

While we can certainly admit that most of us who are giving this advice probably got the same advice when we were younger. We hope that the newer generations are smarter and wiser and will put this guidance to good use.

If you have a piece you would like to share with us, why not pop us over an email at [email protected] and we would be only delighted to share it with our community.

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