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Ponder what they’d say to younger selves
IF YOU could share one bit of advice with your younger self, what would it be?
For the last six years, that very question was posed to guests on “CBS This Morning.” Politicians, performers, athletes and assorted A-listers were asked to consider both who they were and who they are.
And then do a bit of time travel to share their counsel.
Show co-host Gayle King gathers some of the strongest words of advice in “Note to Self: Inspiring Words from Inspiring People.”
It’s a small, lively book full of wisdom.
“Each person in this collection speaks from a place of hard-won enlightenment,” she writes. “They are people who’ve been tested. Many have gone through unimaginable loss; many have triumphed in ways no one thought possible. All have faith, resilience and a mighty heart.”
Despite the common ground, each of their tales is unique.
Former Vice President Joe Biden sends a note back to 12-year-old Joey, a kid with a serious stutter and an easy target for bullies.
“Listen to Mom when she says, ‘Bravery resides in every heart — and yours is fierce and clear,’ ” he advises. “Listen to Dad when he says, ‘Joey, when you get knocked down, get back up.’ Because if you listen, you’ll summon the bravery to overcome the stutter and you’ll learn to stand up to bullies . . . .
“You’ll realize that countless people have suffered equally or more, but with much less support and much less reason to get back up. But they do. They keep going. And so must you. You’ll learn what it means to be an American. There is no ‘quit’ in America.”
Thinking of her own teen self, singer Kesha supposes “you may be wondering if it was really a good idea to drop out of high school and move to L.A. with nothing but your grandpa’s Lincoln Town Car and a demo tape.”
The singer acknowledges she has good news and bad news for young Kesha.
“You made it!” she writes, starting with the positive. “The bad news is you nearly killed yourself on the road to success, fueled by fear of failure, crippling anxiety and insecurity.
“You will become severely bulimic and anorexic, and the worse your disease gets, the more praise you will get from some people in your industry. And this will really, really mess with your head.”
But, remember, she says, “Love yourself, and if you have truth in your heart, there will always be a rainbow at the end of the storm.”
On the lighter side, there’s Muppets star Kermit the Frog writing to himself as a young tadpole. Kermit mentions all his future friends, including a certain pig, and all the songs he’ll sing.
“I envy the life you have ahead of you,” he notes. “You might even say I’m green with envy. Which reminds me: Have a sense of humor. Life’s too silly not to laugh. It’s like my friend Jim Henson used to say: It’s a good life, enjoy it!”
Unfiltered comedian Chelsea Handler, addressing her 20-yearold self, is predictably provocative. To begin with, she doesn’t tell her younger self to be a teetotaler.
“Drink alcohol as much as you want, as long as you do everything else I say,” she urges. “You have a very healthy foundation with alcohol and I will never take that away from you.”
So what would she take away? Young Chelsea’s habit of grabbing a soda or not eating well in general. Of using diet pills to lose weight, or sleeping pills to get some rest.
There’s a warning, too: “Do not reach out to ex-boyfriends when you’ve been drinking. I don’t know how to make you stop doing it, but stop.”
Other memories are harder to relive.
True, Tyler Perry has nothing but gratitude for his younger self. “Thank you for living,” he writes, “so I could thrive.”
But looking at a grade-school picture, he remembers how hardwon that survival was.
“In the reflection of your very sad eyes, I see the hurt of seeing your mother belittled and beaten,” he writes. “I see the pain of your own beatings and the barrage of insults that you suffer every day.
“I feel the horror of the hands of the molesters who are trying to rob you of who you are."
But, he adds, “I just want you to know, you beat everybody who beat you. And all that time you spent trying to make your mom
You know that time you made a ladder out of a chair and some books to reach that locked cabinet where Mom and Dad kept that book about sex? Give yourself a pat on the back for that. Dr. ruth Westheimer if i could say anything to you, it would be, “relax, it’s going to be OK, Girl. Oprah Winfrey Do not reach out to exboyfriends when you’ve been drinking. i don’t know how to make you stop doing it, but stop. Chelsea Handler