What Would You Tell Your Younger Self To Be Grateful For?
- Rosemarie Coppola-Baldwin
- Nov 25, 2013
- 5 min read
At this time of the year, many of us reflect on the people and things in our lives that we are grateful for. Like you, I am grateful for so many things in my life, from the big things like my family and friends, to the little conveniences, like the ability to be able to shop online at this hectic time of year.
As I reflected on my blessings, I started to think about how every year, the things I’m grateful for change. It’s hard to imagine that ten years ago, I couldn’t be thankful for my kids, as they weren’t even here yet!
I began to try and remember what I was grateful for in my younger years. And I wondered, was I grateful for the things I should have been? And what would I go back and tell my younger self to be grateful for? I’m sure there were a number of things that I should have – but didn’t – appreciate back then; things that I know now, after years of experience, that I shouldn’t have taken for granted.
What would I go back and tell my twenty-year old self to be grateful for? What blessings should I have counted back then that maybe I took for granted?
I knew I couldn’t be alone in these thoughts, and so I reached out to some of the women in my life, and asked them this question: What is one thing you would tell your twenty-year old self to be grateful for?
I received lots of great responses, many along the same common themes. Here’s what we wished we were grateful for years ago – young women, take note!
I’d tell myself to be grateful for all the options I had, for the world of possibility that lay before me. I could continue with school, travel at a moment’s notice, work at a demanding job, anything I wanted! While the overwhelming responsibility of having partners and children and pets comes with great rewards, I wish I had recognized and been grateful for the freedom I had as a young adult. I definitely didn’t appreciate it back then!
I would tell myself to be thankful for the time alone – for the Friday and Saturday nights that I was alone, and the long Saturday morning runs. That this time was an invaluable learning experience about me – about learning to love and understand myself. That this time would shape the woman, mother and wife that I am today. Now that my Friday and Saturday nights are filled with love, laughter, and dirty diapers, I look back at the peaceful tranquility I had and wouldn’t change it for the world. I would tell myself to stop worrying about making life happen and making all the pieces fit – that life has a way of working out the way it is supposed to. However, none of this is possible unless you are confident in who you are and love you for you – not who everyone wants you to be. True strength comes from within – I am grateful to have learned this lesson.
Be grateful for your health. Be grateful for time to yourself. Be grateful for spontaneous nights out – studying can wait!
Sleep! I would tell my younger self to be grateful for sleep. As a new mom, I’m lucky if I can sleep more than three hours at a stretch. I love my babies, but I miss my sleep.
Be grateful for the opportunity to experiment. I would have told myself to stop worrying about the future and to not be afraid that I would take the wrong path. I should have just been grateful for having choices in front of me and for the time I was given to figure it all out.
I would tell myself to be grateful for the ability to take advantage of every minute – now with kids there is no time to catch up on rest, the book I wanted to read, or the errands I want to run. Time is so precious, I truly never have time to stop and smell the flowers.
Be grateful for your mother and the choices she made. If your mom chooses not to work so that she is always around, don’t resent it or feel “suffocated.” Now that we are mothers, we understand the difficult choices that we all need to make, and the overpowering feeling to protect your kids at all times.
Be thankful for keeping in good fitness and eating the right things. It’s hard as a younger person to see that as something having an impact for years down the road, but it does. Be grateful for your size, you will never be able to buy yourself all those great, expensive clothes and shoes again until your kids graduate from college!
Be grateful for your God-given talents and appreciate them in yourself. Most people don’t realize their potential until much later in life, if ever.
Be thankful for all the wonderful friends who surround you now – too soon they will be far flung across the globe, or even taken from you. Cherish every precious moment that you’re able to walk down the dorm hall and have a chat.
Be grateful to have time to yourself, and to have a minute to think without kids running around! Be grateful for the quiet peacefulness of your house and do what you want to do while you can. Be grateful to just “be.” Take some time to relax. Life doesn’t get calmer. So just be. Take a breath. Watch Netflix. Read. Nap. Resting isn’t lazy – it’s a great habit that fuels you.
I would tell myself to start each day thanking God for waking up, for health, for peace, for a beautiful sunrise, a snowy morning or a sparrow singing outside my window. There are so many things to be grateful for every day. Focus on the gifts we are given in the present and less on where we think we should be going.
It has taken years of different life experiences for many of us to understand how our gratitude changes from year to year. Ten years from now, some of us will be looking at an empty nest, and wishing for the days of dirty diapers and no time to sleep!
In the end, it’s so important for us to be present in our lives and acknowledge what we have, both the material and nonmaterial things. Each of us can find blessings in our everyday lives, and sometimes, remembering where we came from can help us better appreciate what we have today.
So, what would you tell your younger self to be grateful for?
Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with many blessings – Rosemarie
* This article originally appeared on The Mommy Vortex.