Balance your checkbook.
Get rid of stuff. Simplify your life. You don’t need those book reports from eighth grade.
Use a clean dish rag every day.
Give up thinking that you are right all the time. Even if you happen to be right, it usually doesn’t matter.
Be proud of yourself.
Take risks.
Spend time every day looking at your flat stomach and appreciating it.
Stop buying stuff on the clearance rack just because it’s a good deal.
Recycle.
Use more sunscreen.
When you get pregnant, don’t use that as a green light to eat whatever you want. You will regret it.
Most dogs are not trying to bite you. (Only the really big ones.)
Share yourself with others. Don’t hide your talents.
Get rid of all of your ideas about what makes a good mother. You’ve got what it takes.
Order your salad dressing on the side.
Listen to other people’s opinions, especially if they are different from your own.
Stay in school.
Enjoy the time in life when you are not responsible for anybody but yourself.
Dream big.
Wear things that are trendy and ridiculous. You can use your youth as an excuse.
Buy a bikini and wear it every single day. I know you don’t think you look good, but I’m telling you—you do.
Travel, travel, travel.
Let your husband be himself. Don’t ever try to change him; it would be a shame.
Widen your musical tastes.
Credit cards suck.
Don’t look too far down the road. It’s not worth getting overwhelmed.
Appreciate your good childhood and healthy parents.
Be patient.
(Of course, this conversation would be completely and totally useless. When I was twenty, I knew everything already.)
What would you tell your twenty-year-old self?
