Conversations with my twelve year old self.

I read an article recently about a man that interviewed his 12 year old self. Confused? Don’t be. Back in 1992 an aspiring animator/filmmaker filmed himself at the age of 12 answering questions he believed his 32 year old counterpart would ask him 20 years later. The end result is a touching three minute interview that will leave you feeling all reminiscent of your own childhood.

It got me to thinking. What would you say to your 12 year old self? Would you offer any advice? Excluding all the obvious and asinine answers like ‘Bet all your money on Black Caviar!’ with monetary gain aside, what would you like to chat about with yourself? What do you think yourself back then would want to know of you today?

Having thought long and hard about it, I could only come up with one simple statement:

 ‘Just do what you do Chris. You’ll make some bad choices in the next twenty years, but you’ll also make some great ones. You’ll have exceptionally high times, but you will have devastatingly low ones as well. You will love, you will lose, you will cry, you will laugh, you will make friends and you will make enemies. Sometimes you’ll have money and other times you won’t. Sometimes the world won’t make sense and you’ll wonder what it all means and other times you will feel like everything is happening for a reason. You’ll be someone’s beacon on dry land and you will also need someone’s light when you’re in the storm. If I can leave you with one piece of advice, it would be this, trust yourself. You’re a good kid and you will grow into a great man’

Poignant? I thought so.

~INTERMISSION~

There isn’t much we can do about our 12 year old selves today. However, what we can control is ourselves twenty years from now. If you could meet yourself twenty years from now what would you want to know about yourself? What would you ask? Do you want to know how life turns out? Are you curious? Will you be the same person you are today?

The great Mohammed Ali once said “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty, has wasted thirty years of his life”. Insightful words. How do you view the world today? The sad truth is, not one of us would probably get along with ourselves twenty years from now. I can be honest and say for certainty I wouldn’t get along with myself from 12 months ago, let alone myself twenty years from now.

I’m keeping this blog short. Apologies if it wasn’t long enough to satisfy your lunch break! Instead of reading my ramblings, check out this quick video. It’s the interview I was talking about before the intermission.  

http://video.heraldsun.com.au/2253647943/A-Conversation-with-my-12-year-old-self

Until next time,

-Chris

Oliver says 'SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER NOT KNOWING WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS'