To my young friends

I am surrounded by people 20-30 years younger than I am.  I know what they think.  They think they are prettier, smarter, and more savvy than their 'old' friend, me.  This is my message to them.

Think about the things you have learned since you were 18 years old. Think of the experiences you have had, the lessons you have learned, the things you have felt.  Then mulitply that x 3.  That is me. I may not be as pretty or in shape, although I certainly was when I was your age. I may not spend my time and money like you spend yours. Here's something to think about - I don't spend my time and money the way you do because I have been where you are, learned from that experience, and moved on to make better decisions.  I wouldn't trade what I know for where you are for anything. I have read a lot, not fiction, but non-fiction.  I have lived a lot.  I have expereienced a lot.  It is because I am experienced that I can make wiser choices than you can.  It has nothing to do with being smarter.  It has to do with having more experience.

You haven't raised teenagers to adulthood and then seen them apologize for their teenage years.  Many of you haven't lived in a place where you trusted your neighbors and even strangers on the street. You may not have driven down the street and had someone wave at you just to be nice, not because they know you. You may not have had to relocate your family several times and deal with the emotions of children learning to fit into a new environment. You may not have had to teach your children to drive or save their lives by turning the steering wheel just in the nick of time rather than being run over by a semi truck. You may not have looked outside at 3 am to realize that your teenager has left your house to go meet someone in the middle of the night. You may not have wished your kids were still 3 years old so the mistakes they could make would be easily fixable.  You may not have had to deal with injustices to yourselves and your children over and over again. You may not have watched your children make terrible mistakes after they have been taught better, and yet there is nothing you can do as you watch it. I know what works and what doesn't work when raising children, caring for loved one, and just navigating life.

Life is hard.  The longer you live, the more you learn. Please don't dismiss what I know.  One thing I have learned is that the smarter you are, the more you want to learn from the mistakes of others rather than making your own. Talk to people older and more experienced than you are. Don't dismiss what they know and have learned through hard life lessons. Don't just look at the exterior and think they must be loosers to look like that.  If you are lucky, you will look like that someday too.  Learn from them. You will be better of because of it.