Snap By Snap

Yes, it's true. I was once a . . . teenager! There was the awkward hair (oh, wait, that continues), the acne issues (oh, wait, that continues, too!), and the self doubt (nice that some things at least diminish). There were crushes, fights with girlfriends, fights with parents, tears, car accidents, breakups, more tears, and somehow I survived it all.

We recently had an assignment at work to write a letter of advice to our younger selves (I know, I have a very weird job), and it sent me once again into waves of nostalgia. What if you could go back in time, and talk to the younger you? What would you say? I think I would have so much to say I'd put my younger self to sleep. But fortunately my work assignment had a topic - "Learning" - so I had a limit to my ramblings. Probably a good thing.

I spent my K-12 years believing that I was not all that smart. I improved to become an average student between the ages of 10-17, thanks to my Mom helping to solve my reading problems, but I was never pegged as a smart kid. If they had AP or college-prep classes at my school, I couldn't have told you a thing about them. I was just glad I wasn't in them. I put very little effort into school. Very. Little.

Once college came around, things began to change and I found I really could achieve academically. I was shocked. In many ways, however, I had only learned to work the system. I'm sorry to say that I got A's on book reports for which all I had done was peruse the table of contents. I memorized for tests by driving to school with the textbook on the steering wheel. It wasn't until much, much later in life that true learning grabbed me. I wish it had been a part of my life so much earlier.

Below, I have copied my letter to share.


Dear Me,


Take time to explore and learn every day. You are smarter than you think you are.

It’s easy to be so busy with school, friends, work, and church that you don’t take time to learn something new: Something you don’t need to know for school; something that’s out of your usual rut. Listen to different styles of music. Read books written by authors whose lives started and ended on the other side of the world. Read things you disagree with. Take time to notice the vastness and beauty of the oceans and mountains and appreciate what they have to teach you about God’s world and your place in it.

Don’t go through life with your eyes closed to that which is different from you. You are not only smarter than you think, but you also have nothing to fear from Truth. Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” What you learn changes you – makes you more of who you were created to be. Being a learner changes you. You’ll be a better wife, mom, employee, and friend when you are a learner. And it’s funny – what you learn for school hardly ever changes your life. It’s the learning you do on your own that makes the difference.

So, open your eyes. You are smarter than you think you are.