1. That baby you have will grow up and need an education, so start saving for that.

2. Your credit rating is going be very important, so don't mess it up. Don't be afraid to ask for help, you'll get it.

3. You are much stronger than you know, and you'll be much saner when you're older.

As idealistic as it may seem, you cannot always make a living doing something you like to do. The bottom line is you need to have skill sets that are sought after and preferably, in high demand and that pay well. You can always do what you love as hobby.

Another thing to keep in mind is where you want to live; if you are tied to certain geographic region to stay near family or friends, find out what is marketable and in high demand in that regional area and choose your education on what will generate a decent living and preferably a high-demand area.

I have ingrained in my son although he wants to get into acting, a small minority of people make a living at it and he would need to move to where there is a high demand, such as LA or NY. In the meantime, he needs to have marketable skills to earn a living. He has decided to pursue automotive repair and customizing as his major, but a minor in acting related pursuits.

I would tell my younger self not to worry so much, that everything (or most things) will work out just fine and that things don't have to be perfect or just how I planned them to still be okay. I would tell my younger self that college is better than high school, and that real life is better than college, and that life is constantly changing...if something is bad right now, it won't stay that way forever.

I think this is a great conversation to have. I often think of these things when talking with my own children. Of course, I give them lots of advice based on my past (and highly valuable) mistakes and of course, they usually don't listen any better than I did. Still, if I could sit down with my younger self, I would say:

1. Do no spend most of your 20's waiting tables while trying to find yourself. Finish college, and try to find yourself while making more money. Compared to restaurant work, college is a walk in the park.

2. Avoid debt as much as possible. You will save yourself so much grief and bitterness later, when you want to buy a house and save for your future.

3. You know those student loans? You have to pay them back!

4. Unless you are very financially solvent, a brand new car is seldom worth it.

5. A really old, inexpensive car is also not worth it. It will surprise you with a huge repair bill when it is least convenient.

6. You will always encounter someone who has "more" than you do. If you think carefully about what you buy, and only buy what you appreciate, you will value what YOU have. This will provide you with an enormous sense of peace. If you want what you have, you will not covet what belongs to others.

7. No matter how poor you are, life is too short to drink bad coffee.

1. Don't be quite so certain about the things you think you know. There's at least a 50% chance that you're wrong.

2. Don't judge others so harshly. Maybe you could do things better, but then again, maybe not.

That's about all I would tell my younger self, because I like where my life is right now. I couldn't have gotten here without making the choices that I made in the past...

...Although I probably would tell my younger self not to date that loser who demanded I take him to CA when I moved there for a job. Without him, I would have been on a far better financial footing when I was able to go back to school.

People who love and cherish you will pass away and be gone.Cherish them,tell them that you love them and always give them the respect they deserve. Even when you are angry or don't feel like it.
Burn all credit card offers.
Save ,SAVE you never know when there will be an emergency.
Above all never regret what you haven't done . If its that important to you go out and do it. If its not let it go and move on.

Instead of insisting on a small, private college, go to a large state university for a cheaper education of comparable quality with fewer 8am classes!

I know those brand new shiny credit cards make you feel like your on top of the world. I know you think paying them off will be no problem. After all, the minimum payment is only $25.00. Heck, one is only $8.00! You can handle that! No problem! But dear, those new shoes you bought for $85.00 are going to end up costing you $200.00 in the end and that's if there ever is an end.

Credit catches up with you and you will become buried in it. In ten years those shoes will be history but your credit will still be with you and once you screw that up, well honey....life is a challenge.

Enjoy your money. Spend some. But save. Save as much as you can. If you really want those shoes, have the money... don't rely on credit cards. Want more things? Forget about that sale, or that party, or even that man for one second and study. Four years and life is yours. Find your passion and finish college.

The rest my dear, is all you. Enjoy your life, enjoy your money and enjoy your career but live within your means. Things don't bring smiles, life brings smiles.

Boys are a lot less complicated and scary than you think, so talk to them, especially the ones you like!!!

And get out of the house and try as hard as you can to stop ruminating about life. It will make you very very depressed and is totally not worth it. Please consider a travel abroad or volunteer program every summer of high school and get the hell out of town and away from your mother and your own head.

Everything else is and will be fine and will always get better. At least until you're 26, then I have no f'n clue! :) (but I think it will just keep getting better).

Go ahead and take the risks, but remember you aren't alone. When you think the world is gonna overwhelm you, go ahead and call your folks and let them know what is up. They won't bail you out, but they will have good advice and will know that the problems aren't as big as you think they are.

Really. Trust them. Their advice will save you a lot of heartache. They are on your side.

I find it hard to actually slow down from time to time. We all know we need to slow down, but how often do we do it? Some people have a problem being motivated, I have the problem of slowing down. I just recently posted a good post about this on my personal & professional development blog http://sreupert.squarespace.com/ check it out!

Don't sacrifice your financial security for something that doesn't fit into the food/shelter rule.

Don't make snap judgments that you'll live to regret.

Don't wait to jump into the world.

Hopping onto life's milestones won't tear you apart.

Two Words: compound interest

seriously. when you get your first job, have your parents help you set up an IRA or a mutual fund account, and contribute some percentage of your wages, no matter how small.

Dear 12 year old Darice,
Something that I've learned that I should have at 12 is that you never know what you can get if you don't ask. There are a lot of moments that I look back and wonder what would have been different if I'd just tried and not have talked myself out of something because I worried too much about appearances or that I just thought I would be denied something so I didn't even try. I look back and wish for a redo more than I look back and regret an action. I wouldn't tell you to take more chances, to be more reckless or more outgoing, but I would tell you to ask for what you deserve and what you want.
I think that all or most of the things I regret could be helped with lots more self esteem earlier on in life. I remember early to feel bad about things that looking back should not have been made shameful - that could have been made better with a different tactic.
Another thing I keep relearning is that I was never as fat as I thought or allowed people to try and make me think. I'll never be so fat that I should divorce myself from activities, feelings, or normal experiences others don't give a thought about whether they should or should not do. By prohibiting some of those experiences I probably just made it more cyclical until I become afraid to try.

If I were to counsel my younger self I would tell myself that life is NOT a destination....it is a journey.

It may sound trite but it is true. Don't strive to reach a goal without enjoying where you are now. Enjoy now. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Do something for yourself. Go out with your friends. Enjoy your life and where you are in it right now. You will get to your goal if you work toward it, but don't forget about the present moment.

Advice to self: The best way to get rich quick is to not get rich quick. Trying to get rich quick never works and will always lead to failure! Slow and steady always wins the race. It may not be glamorous but it works!

1. Notice that although you appear to like chemistry and biology, you have to work about 50X harder at those subjects as compared to English/literature (which are subjects you actually love even more than the life sciences). Consider this as you go off to college.

2. Be nicer to your sister. Stop pretending to have teen angst and that "I-hate-my-family" attitude. It IS cool to be friends with your sister. Besides, in five years she's going to be living halfway around the globe and you're going to be missing her like crazy.

3. Stop mistaking your stubborness as "independence." The more you try to do everything by yourself, the more you end up isolating yourself.

4. On the otherhand, when you find yourself in your first (and subsequent) serious relationship, DON'T be too reliant upon your BF- fight for your "alone" time, don't become a dreaded "hyphen" couple.

Good luck, youngster.

1. You should throw conformity out the window.
2. Don't spend all your money by buying junk, save every dime you make.
3. Go to the College that you like, not what people tell you.
4. Try to keep healthy by taking care of your body, you'll thank me later in life.
5. Take some classes in personal finance.
6. It's all right to take risks-go for it!

I wish I had these in front of me every step of the way, I do now.

-To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven --- remember it when it gets tough.

-Every day be grateful for the family you have, they are your rock and they are there for you no mater what.

-Sometimes it's just better to let it go!

-Stop being so hard on yourself.

-Keep going to the gym and take care of your mind as well. You're not that crazy.

-Reconsider your major...maybe.

-Make lots of contacts with professors and figure out more about how grad school really works. Work hard to get into the right school.

-Stop trying to do so much all at once.

Dear young one,

You have always been older than you are, studying those around you to try to understand the world you're in. You'll figure out later that you don't fit in - but honestly, that's okay, because you have a special talent. Try to study the younger ones too, because I've forgotten how to play - I hope you can find it and keep it safe.

One day, you will have as many *things* as you want to have. You don't have to collect and save every smallest scrap because you'll never get another one - you WILL, and once you leave home everything you'd saved will go where all your other treasured things have gone. Honey, don't tie your heart to what will be taken away. You know it will. Wait until things are stable and safe and *good*. You'll marry Sylvos, and it'll be rocky but the best thing you've ever known.

You'll get to be a mommy, and you will find your own way. You don't have to do what you were taught, and you'll find out too that "having a baby changes everything." It really does. Trust yourself because you know more than the 'experts', and you'll get the proof you need. And you'll discover your purpose in life: to be the best person you can be, and for you that means to love. Because that's what you do best.

I love you.

Dear Julia,
You have many years ahead of you, no matter what you think. Life will go on. It is time to stand up and be your own woman, not just someone's daughter or someone's girlfriend/wife. There are many things you need to learn, such as:
1-Believe it or not, education IS important, and so is going to college.
2-Don't be satisfied with 'getting by'. Do something you actually LIKE to do, and figure out how to make a living doing it...a GOOD living.
3-Don't be so impulsive. For every action, there is a reaction. For every decision you make, you will have to live with the consequences.
4-Be picky when it comes to men. Choose THEM, don't just date the ones who chose you. Do they have a job? Live at home with their parents? Treat you with respect? These are red flags! GET AWAY FROM THE "LONERS" and "REBELS". It's time to get over your 'bad boy' phase! Look for a man who will make a good husband and father someday.
5-Get over the 'Cinderella' complex you have. There is no handsome prince on a white horse coming to take you away from all this and take care of you. Take care of yourself. Do it on your own. You will have more respect for what you have, and for yourself.
6-STOP DRINKING SODAS! They are rotting your teeth! If you need caffeine, learn to like coffee. At least it doesn't have acid in it. Much easier to whiten your teeth than to replace them!
7-Put down the cigarettes! You will tire of them later and the damage will have been done. The sooner you stop, the healthier you will be later for your children (yeah, CHILDREN)!
8-Live well, laugh often, and love much.
I LOVE YOU!
Julia-age 38

Shawn -

Even though you've been accepted to the college of your choice, DON'T go. Stay home and do the first two years at community college; $30/unit undergrad requirements are just as good as $22,000 ones. Besides, if you go, the guy you meet and "fall in love with" will end up beating on you, and flushing your self-esteem down the toilet; you're better than that!

In fact, when your Dad forces you to go speak with the Army recruiter, just so you know that you have other options besides going to college immediately, really LISTEN. And then a few days later, sign up! You will not miss ANYTHING by joining the Army and going to work at the hospital in Rammstein. And even though 20 years seems like a long time, when you get out, you'll be 38 y.o., and you will have PLENTY of time to start a whole second life!!

Do NOT get married before the age of 30. You're too immature to really know what you want (and so is he). Live on your own for awhile, get to really know yourself, and then start looking for a companion.

When your mom calls to tell you that your grandma is in the hospital, and it doesn't look good, do not wait until morning to call the hospital. Pick up the phone, and just tell whoever's in the room with her to put the phone by her ear, and then tell her how much you love her. Tell her it's okay to go, and you'll see her soon enough. And then telll her how much you love her, again, one more time.

When you're prescribed Vicodin for back pain, do NOT take it. It's going to lead you down a path that will cost you two jobs, and eight weeks in rehab. Work through the pain.

Most of all, stop listening to your heart, and follow your intuition. You know a bad situation when you see it, so avoid it. Try to make the smarter choices, even if they aren't appealing. No one ever said it would be easy, but it will be worth it.

1) Listen to your dad and floss. It won't kill to take a minute off every night.
2) Popularity is a not always good. Not everyone likes you, so be grounded and watch your back.
3) Do what scares you. It's good for you.
4) Don't be scared what others might think. Just go for that guy you think is nice. He IS nice!
5) Start working part-time while schooling when your mum says ok. It will do you so much good. You have alot of energy, so use it while it lasts.

Make your life a priority. This doesn't mean sacrifice work/goals, rather use the resources wisely (time/money) to make sure you have more of them.

Easy ways to do this:
- Don't procrastinate, ever.
- Don't get into credit card debt. Pay cash, or save until you can.
- Buy investments, not toys (think property) Seriously!
(these first three will solve 80% of issues later)

The rest are just icing. Overwhelming? then go back to just the top 3...
- Don't drive crazy or speed. trust me on this...
- Sleep well
- Trust your instincts (they will serve you very well)
- Stay in contact with friends
- Write letters to grandma / grandpa and others.
- Travel

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dear Lisa,
(at age 10) your beautiful, the divorce was not your fault. your fathers failure to love is his loss and your moms crazy behavior is not your responsibility. Believe in god he will always be with you!
never stop exercising, singing or drawing.
(at age 14-21) Take karate so when that guy tries to beat you , you can beat him back and protect yourself
Stay away from those other guys and wait for Bobby
Go to college and get that degree in Registered nursing or physcology or both.
never ever do drugs,smoke or eat bad food...you'll save yourself loads of misery.
once you have your babies spend more time with them ! They grow up fast !
Stop chasing over what you cant have and start appreciating what you do have.
No one human is perfect, But there are many who try to lead the world into believing they are. stop feeling like a looser for what you dont have start feeling like a winner for what you do have!

For God's sake, don't major in Social Work!!! Are you out of your mind???