If I had a magic wand and could go back and tell my twenty-year old self some words of wisdom (now looking back at the wise old age of thirty-four) this is what I’d tell her:
1. Being tan is NOT that important—get thyself out of the tanning beds NOW! You will regret it later and by that I mean having to have weird moles removed all the time and seeing those age spots creep up a little sooner than you expected.
2. That boy in your study group—you know the one that you get all giddy about when you go to the library and see him there? He’s NOT the one. Get over it. Oh, yeah, and he has a girlfriend.
3. You might want to consider doing some exercises to strengthen your knee. Or consider NOT running every day. When you’re twenty-five you will have to have knee surgery and will never be able to run again.
4. Go visit your Dad’s family and get to know them before you have kids … because then you will not have time … and in some instances it will be too late.
5. Don’t use credit cards for entertainment purposes. You’ll have nothing to show for that debt ten years from now and it will take you about that long to get it paid off.
6. Keep a sense of humor and A LOT of patience. You’re going to need it. Life gets rough sometimes. If you can’t laugh at yourself then you’re sunk.
7. Get to know your neighbors from the beginning … when it’s been seven years it’s too late to come over and ask to borrow some sugar or is it?
8. Trust your gut feelings about things and people—they are usually right. They don’t call it woman’s intuition for nothing.
9. Don’t ever, ever drink more than one hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s. Not even if it seems like one didn’t feel like anything. You WILL regret it later.
10. Buy stock in Google when they go public. Then sell in the year 2007. 2008 will kill your portfolio.
11. In 2001 don’t rent an apartment near the pool. A storm named Allison will come and you’ll have to move … again!
12. You are going to have three sons—learn something about sports.
13. Get to know Joyce Stevenson—her hopes, fears, and dreams. She will change your life forever.
14. Love a lot, laugh a lot, and cry a lot. Don’t hold back the tears when they come. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
15. When it comes down to it, all that matters are your relationships to others and to God.
16. No matter how tempting it may seem- do not put down white carpet in your house. You’ll look back and say, “What was I thinking?”
17. If you want to make God laugh, just tell him your plans.
