What do you wish your younger self could have known about life, the world, and themselves?
This is the sixth and final part of Serenity in the Trenches, a series of episodes to help us find self-acceptance and true belonging when things around us feel like they’re falling apart. In this part we are spending time in conversation with ourselves. Who we are now, who we were then, and who we are in the process of becoming.
What would you say to your younger self?

This is not just a hypothetical exercise. It contains great power to change the foundations of our present. Because our experience of now, is deeply underpinned by the ghosts of ourselves from throughout our lives. A ghost is the presence of an absence. We all carry them around. The words of other people. Traumas from our past. And unique situations or experiences which took us out of our comfort zone.
By opening up dialogue with the little voice(s), we can begin to shift the beliefs, values, and feelings that are holding us back from true belonging in this moment and the future.
What are some of the things we might say?
Don’t let fear stop you doing what matters most.
Trust your gut and your ‘artist brain’. Before the second, third, and fourth thoughts stop you from acting. And have faith that you will avoid the genuinely terrible stuff.
What you’re doing now will contribute to who you will become. You will make positive change, it might not feel like it’s happening, but it is. Step by step.
Restlessness, impatience, and a desire to move with haste. These are things that might stop you from committing and persevering with what matters.
The Little Voice
We can influence the voice of our younger self. It’s one thing going back and speaking from the future. But most of us need to hear a re-writing of the story from our younger self…the ‘little voice’.
We need to feel accepted and loved from that side of our story. Otherwise we carry the restlessness, the self-berating, regret. The feeling “I’m not good enough, I’ve not done enough, I’ve let myself down.”
What if that younger self, the one with ‘their whole life ahead of them’, came into the present moment and said, “I’m proud to become you. You are enough. Thanks for continuing the story, man! It’s been gripping to watch, and wow I can’t believe the way you dealt with some of those situations you’ve been through. I would never have thought I could cope with that. But you did!”
Treat Life Like a Practice
“You’re never going to get it right. You’re never going to reach the North Star. Treat life like a practice. Look at perfection, whatever that might mean to you. But you’re never gonna really be perfect. You can just be perfectly yourself.” – Leah Burkhart
What are You Waiting For?
“Do the thing that you want to do. Do it now. Don’t wait until you feel like you’re ready or until you think it’s okay with everyone else. You don’t need permission to chase after your dreams. It doesn’t have to be okay with your friends or your family, for you to do the things that you want to do. You don’t have to live by their standards. You can make your own standards. It’s okay.” – Sarah Kuhn
“Don’t wait for perfection, or for a year from now. Don’t wait for anything else to change. Just do it now. Go build the business of your dreams. Get out of a relationship that isn’t serving you. Move to where you want to go. Whatever you want in your life. Go after it. Now.” – Cameron Airen
Know When To Quit
“Stick with it long enough to know you gave it your best shot”.