A follow on Twitter asked the question, What advice would you give your younger self? As I thought about the question, I decided that I would tell my younger self and those younger than me as well as myself today to take your dreams and capacity seriously.
Dreams matter. I am most happy about the dreams that came true in my life, and I am most sad about the dreams I did not take seriously. I had some very rich and meaningful dreams as a young child, and I took those dreams seriously. The fact that those dreams came true made my life a happy, positive life. As for a few dreams that I didn't take seriously, I wish I had trusted in those dreams more as fulfillment of those dreams would have been positive for me and others. Why didn't I take those dreams seriously. Mostly, I didn't seek out a group that shared those dreams with me whereas the dreams I did take seriously and fulfill profited from a number of wonderfully supportive friends and family members.
So my advice to young people is to take your dreams seriously and find supportive friends, family members, and colleagues who support you as you work to make those dreams come true. Your dreams matter so make time to dream and to allow your dreams to come to fruition in positive, life enriching ways.
My other piece of advice is to know your capacity and take your capacity seriously. We are all born with incredible capacity to live good lives, yet sometimes we don't have the support needed to acknowledge our capacity and take that capacity seriously. This may be particularly true if your capacity is not valued, acknowledged, or understood by the people in your midst. This might happen for all kinds of reasons related to your gender, culture, geography, personal traits, jealousy, and more.
To counter the lack of support you may experience related to your capacity, you have to seek out people, groups, organizations, and places that understand who you are and your capacity. Fortunately in this time of ready information via the Internet, there's great access to information which will help you to search for like-minded thinkers and role models that represent your deepest dreams, desires, and capacity.
With regard to dreams and capacity, we also need to acknowledge and support the dreams and capacity of those we love and care for. To be there for them is a win-win for our lives and their's. Onward.