Compiled by Erica Wright
We asked Birmingham-area residents, What advice would you give your younger self?
Kelsey Sizemore: “Take risks. Don’t ever feel like you’re stuck in one path or one career because you can always change and do something else that you’re passionate about or that excites you so I would tell my younger self to take more risks. Don’t be afraid of what might happen, take that risk or that leap of faith and just do it!”
Damon Bailey: “Be more patient and not be anxious for things . . . know that everything happens at the time it is supposed to happen and it all works out for your good. I think I set make believe milestones for myself that I needed to ‘have this by this time…’ and it kind of forced me to be erratic and frantic in trying to pursue that to where I would miss the sight of why I wanted whatever it was in the first place.”
Emily Smith: “Slow down. Life goes by really fast, stop and enjoy every moment of it. You can’t get those moments back so it’s important to enjoy them in that moment and be present because you don’t want to look back and think ‘I should have done this or that’ . . . just stop and slow down and enjoy every moment life has to offer.”
Rachel Wells: “Care less about what other people think of you. I think it saves a lot of stress, anxiety and heart-ache in the end and now that I’m older, I have the perspective that really I need to think about what are the things that matter to me and what makes me happy and part of that is not caring about what I’m wearing that day or what people think about my opinion and just living the truest version of my life that I can.”
