By Che Williams
Advice in Reverse: To My Younger Self
Don’t let others define you
Don’t worry about issues or people
you can’t control
Take criticism with a grain of salt
Don’t let others make you feel smaller
than you are
Don’t define your worth by whether you are employed or not
and see your worth in the things you’re interested in
and/or your accomplishments
When you make mistakes, see them as learning experiences
They’re part of your growth
Believe in yourself and learn a language
that supports you
You are enough and you are where you need to be.
Advice In Advance: To My Older Self
Maybe one day you’ll understand
How people of my age and personality feel
You won’t expect others to be as talkative as you did earlier in life
You’ll come to the end of a day and
Feel exhausted
You won’t feel guilty about not wanting
To be as social
as you once were
You might be more meditative and comfortable with silence
I hope you feel you are enough as
You are.
Che Williams is an artist, poet, singer, and songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts, in the U.S.