If you could talk to yourself when you were a kid...

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you're gonna be alone and depressed.
your mom is going to drag you around with her thru 4 different step-dads and divorices
with each change your going to be even more alienated by everybody
No matter what you try to do the right way its going to fall appart miserably
just give up now theres nothing to look forward to but death
no one likes you now, just wait its gonna get much worse.


YOU are NOT RIGHT. GIVE UP NOW

I wouldn't. I wasn't like super happy as a kid but I was confident, unlike now. Sometimes I think that if I met myself at 10 years old she would beat me up for ending up a loser. (I fought a lot)

The more I look over things the more I realize that I periodically asked for help in my life but I couldn't get anyone to give it to me. There were no gifted classes or anything like that in my small town until the high school level. If they thought this was wrong with me they'd probably shoved me in special ed (which was a joke at my school & not handled correctly) and I think I'd somehow be worse off now. I found some old journals & when I read them I can feel how I was back in that situation & it makes me feel ill. I don't think I could help myself then at all.

A lot of people say they'd tell themselves to get out of the situation, which makes sense, but all of my problems came to a head during puberty. It's not like I could tell a 10 or 11 year old to go out into the world.

I'd tell my younger self...

"There will be times when life is REALLY gonna suck. But don't give up, hang in there, things do get better. You will need those tough times to be able to truly appreciate the good times."

Then I'd say...

"hey, let's play with some LEGO's!"

I'd meet myself when I was at the age of 15 and give myself a hug. I wouldn't say life get's easier, it doesn't, but there will be highlights. And I would have given myself a backbone so I could stand up to everyone that bullied me and walked out when I needed it.

I would tell myself to understand Aspergers Syndrome better so I know myself better. I would tell myself to read the self-help books I've read that have helped me so much. Then I would say "You'll be better than the rest. Always be confident knowing this, and sympathize the neurotypical".

I think I'd really want stress to him to not be one of the "cool" boys. That would be the main thing I'd want stressed to him. I'd tell him that in a few years, everything will be one hundred times better for you than any of your classmates if you just keep being yourself, as weird as people may tell you you are. That everything he's into right now is fine, despite what anyone says to the contrary. I'd really stress to him to keep being friends with those nice girls in his class, and to not be friends with the stupid idiotic boys. Everything about him is fine, and to not let other people tell him otherwise. I'd really tell him that God loves him, too, and to keep being good, despite all the people around him he sees prospering from being evil. I'd tell him to avoid being in the presence of wicked people at all costs, even if you have no friends because of it, and men ridicule you for it.

I'd tell him if he doesn't take this advice, his future will be very grim, and he'll see jail bars, blood, and everything will be terrible for him, but that God loves him so much he'll fix things regardless of how much he screws up.

Oddly, 10 years old, which I think was when I was in 4th grade, was the turning point for me, I wish I had someone say this all to me at 10. I remember I saw a kid who figure skated at the skating rink, he seemed so much like me at that age, I told him to keep figure skating and to not let other people making fun of him stop him from it, and that when he grows up, life will be great for him.

Wise words.

I started to think what I would like to say, and it made me feel upset. I think sometimes time & experience are the only solutions for words to be imbued with meaning. I could try to explain things, but it wouldn't make the young me any more able to do different things as I didn't have the ability back then.

Perhaps it would be better if I just listened to my young self instead, as nobody else did.

It was age fifteen when I started taking steps I couldn't take back. Another thirty five years passed before I learned about autism - some inkling of what that meant would have been useful earlier, if I'd been willing to listen.

I already knew back then that God loved me, what I didn't know was that god was imaginary.

I would say be careful that you don't say or do anything silly to your sister in later years she"ll bring them up in front of people to embarass you.
even if its something that was only a week she'll still do it.
you'll never be able to have friends at home for fear of what she'll say in front of them.

I'd say: spend more time with your dad, he'll be dead before you turn 11.

I'd say: don't be so proud to be different than others; just because you're socially awkward doesn't make you more special or intelligent than the other people.

I'd say: stop blaming yourself for everything.

It really doesn't matter what i would say. My younger self would tell my older self to leave me alone, go away, and then stomp on his/my(?) foot.

I'd tell myself that reading almanacs for fun, wanderingt he playground at 6 and 7 talking to imaginary friends and just watching kids play not knowing how to invite myself in is becuse of Asperg'er Syndrome, but it's not an official diagnosis yet so sit tight on that idea till later.

I'd say warn that girl who befriends you in 2nd and really encourages you to take up karate. Take the classes with her, do anything you can to get her to learn self-defense. I won't say why, though, becuase my younger self would not believe this girl, who he saw as one of his best friends, would be mistreated so badly by a fellow student and have to leave the school. My younger self believed everyone was nice and followed rules ina sort of pollyana-ish way.

I'd tell my younger self to mention every time there's a problem so his parents will pull himout and put him in a private school for Junior High - he can go to the regular highs chool but Junior High will be a big problem.

I'd tell my younger self since his mother's not getting him to church to watch a certain church on TV each Sunday that presents the Gospel. Aw, why not, I'd try to lead my younger self to Christ; although my younger self would balk at the idea he was a sinner till his teens when certain thought patterns helped him realize he needed a Savior.

I'd tell him not all his clsoe friends will stay with him, and that one in particular will get witht he wrong crowd and start making fun of him after high school. Hopefully I'd believe the older me and be saveda lot of pain.If not, my younger self would be able to explain the reason he and this freind didn't get along anymore as Aserpger's, though, with said friend suddenly not likeing the younger me's very literal nature.

So, in short, prepare the younger me for the truths about life, spare people some pain - including me - and hope the younger me listens.

Be good to everyone. Do not look down on anyone, ever. Always strive to do better in everything you do. Become better at understanding and empathizing with people. No one is beneath you. Just because you feel like you are alone, does NOT mean you are. Just because you feel like you are alone, do not shun away from others further isolating yourself. You are not broken. You are who you are, please be happy. You will learn to live a more normal life. You will slowly begin to understand. Please be patient and don't worry. Please seek help for ADD, it will help you immensely in the future, you are by no means dumb, and you know it. Let me re-emphasize, You are NOT broken. There are people like you. You are NOT alone. Read books on OCD and bipolar and even asperger syndrome. You will see. Everything will work out. Learn your "limitations" and then learn to break free from them. The world is out there waiting for you.

"Young Fnord, I am your future self. This envelope contains the name and the mailing address of a girl that you will later ask to be your wife. Avoid her at all costs. This other envelope contains the name and the mailing address of the woman that you should marry. Do not mix them up ... again!"

"By the way, the answers to tomorrow's Algebra exam are: a, a, c, b, d, a, d, c, c, b, ..."

Things I wish someone had told me when I was a kid, things that not knowing about made it hard for me..I tell them to my daughter now.
My parents meant well but they weren't much help. When its time to talk about relationships and dealing with other people, the good and the bad I'm not going to tell her what to do, but I'm going to tell her everything I know (even though I'm a Dad). She listens to me now, so I hope I can help her grow up strong and happy.

I'm not sure how many people here subscribe to the theory of multiple universes or if anyone else mentioned it as I haven't read all of the responses, but I'd be interested in advising my younger self if I could somehow compare this universe with the one that would branch off after such an encounter. I'm perfectly content with the path my life has taken thus far. I would do it out of sheer curiosity.