Acne, puberty, obnoxiously tall bangs, and those ever-so-awkward “Do you like me? Check Yes or No” letters.
Oh, the joys of teenage years.
Here’s our question: If given a second chance, would you take it all back? Would you dare to relive your teen years and all those past glories?
We need your short or long answers – some of which will go in the upcoming Mar/Apr 2010 issue of Rethink Monthly.
I'm a guy who would totally do it over again… if I knew what I know now! I start by sleeping more at night and flipping my priorities upside down. Then again, that was the nineties and no one had hair like that picture!
I’m with you. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would. Especially if I knew then what I know now. I totally would’ve grown my hair out. Like wicked long.
I have thought about this before. If I knew what I know now, I would do it differently. But part of life is going through those awkward periods of time. We live, we learn.
I hope to use those experiences and the insight I have to encourage kids going through similar things now.
Having just gone to my 25th high school reunion last year I sort of relived my teen years.
That being said, I think I had it easier in the 80′s as a teenager than most kids today. Granted we had peer pressure and all, but over the past 25 years we have become such a media driven society that the message being put out is that you now have to keep up with what we are being told we should look like, what we should eat, who we should listen to, etc. If kids don’t have a strong self image (and parents or other adults to help foster that self esteem) then it becomes to easy to succumb to the pressure.
Guess that was a long answer to a short question. But yes, I would relive my teen years. It’s part of what made me who I am today.
Thanks Michelle. Great thoughts on the power of peer pressure! A side note: I dig your blog. Keep up the good work.
My teen years were the 70s, and I found a Savior during the Jesus Movement.I wouldn’t trade that time for anything and I would love to go back!
Although my (teen years) really weren’t all that long ago, I would take the opportunity to re-live them if I could. I lived those years for so long in introverted awkwardness that I never even took the time to consider that perhaps there were other teens dealing with the same anxieties that I was. Perhaps those years would have been more fulfilling if I had just been more confident in my own person, and had taken advantage of what I viewed as my weaknesses and used them to reach out to my fellow classmates.
Renee, thanks for your comment. It would be a great benefit for us to learn, at a younger age, the importance of using our weaknesses for the benefit of others. Great thoughts!
Heck yes I would
IF … I could from the perspective of knowing what I know now …. probably. To live it over again just to live it over again …. na!
Agreed. Thanks Ken.
Well, this year is the 40th anniversary of my high school graduation.
I had a lot wrong with my thinking then but much right too. I was a Christian and tried to serve Him as I knew Him. But it took time to grow into the Truth.
No, I would not go back to that age although it was a blast living in a small Oregon town.
Life today is just where I want to be, able to use all that I have learned in so much better ways.
Thanks for the comments. And, almost more importantly, thanks for revealing your age. I’d be curious to know which town you were from.
I would do it over again if it meant doing so with the knowledge and understanding I have now. I would try harder to get good grades, go to college early and be more adventurous. I would do exactly what I want and not what was expected of me. I would take more chances and be more rebellious, but always knowing where I’m going and what I want. It takes a while for those goals to be realized.
Thanks for the comments Phil. I’m with you on taking more chances but not so much with the rebellion. I do think that, regardless of how good or bad our teenage years were, they have shaped us into the people we are today. I made a lot of choices that I wish I could undo but, at the same time, those choices fueled me into making better decisions as I’ve gotten older. Thanks again for your thoughts!
At first, I thought: absolutely, especially with all experience that I have now! However, after thinking more about it, I think that it would be too boring now, boring friends, nonsense activities (I didn’t think about them a s being boring or nonsense then – it’s just I have different interests now).
on the other hand, I wouldn’t really want to lose all what I learned in my “afterteen” live, so I wouldn’t go there without my experience. also, I wouldn’t want to change my life, because even my mistakes made me who I am today, and all this was in God’s plan for me.
All this being said, I wouldn’t relive my teen years, but I would definetely go there on vacation
I think I’d do it again…most of it. I have wonderful and valuable memories of those years. And there were things about my teenage years I truly wish I could forget. Very difficult memories. But “all things work together for good” in our walk with Jesus. Although I didn’t meet the Lord until I was 26, He was building a foundation for me in my teenage years, and allowing situations to develop that would form me into the man I am today, living the life I live now. Knowing that, yes….I’d do it again.
Well put Cory. Thanks for your thoughts.
I enjoyed my teenage years, but I have no desire to relive them. I assume to do so means I wouldn’t have met my wonderful wife, had my children or met the same students I had the privilege of meeting as a youth pastor and a volunteer. God had in me in that place at that time.
I learned from the opportunities I took as well as the ones I missed.
I would relive my teenage years, in the aspect of correcting past mistakes, being more outgoing, taking more risks, etc. But if it would change the course of my relationship, marriage, children, etc, I am with you Geoff. But if given the opportunity to correct my wrongs, I’d be all over that.
Weird. I didn’t change my Gravatar to a little pirate dude. Or is that a gnome?
Being a teenager isn’t too distant a memory for me. I do remember it as one of the last times I was happy to hear “the phone’s for you” and to find no shame in sleeping till noon. I try to live my life with no regrets, but inevitably there are things I’d do differently. If I could go back– conditionally, with the where-with-all I’ve gained in the past few years of “adulthood”– I’d do it in a heartbeat. I believe the most impressionable years of life are also the ones when the greatest impressions can be cast out. The impact I unintentionally had could have been much greater if I was living with more intention, direction, and intensity. Channeling the innate fire of a teenage spirit may very well be one of the most powerful catalysts in influencing a generation.
Yes, I would absolutely do it again. In high school I was a fledgling Christian, with no support or encouragement to grow in my walk with Christ. Consequently, I didn’t necessarily make the best decisions some of the time. I now know, however, that people I barely knew at the time were praying for me, and I made it through unscathed and a more committed Christian because of it.
Besides, who wouldn’t want to go back to a time when a Commodore 64 was the Cadillac of computers? Who needs an iPad?
I think i might be exempt from this one…
It’s a question I’ve thought about a lot. I spent my teenage years getting high, skulking in my room, watching my family devolve into a sad mockery of love. By the end of my teens I hated God, believing he was either cruel or apathetic. Would I live THAT again? No way. But knowing what I know, would I change things? I ended my teens with a drug habit, a belief in spiritualism and no motivation. I spent my 20 exploring drugs, sex and self fulfilment from a selfish perspective. I tried, on the back of my teenage rejection, to discover joy somewhere. It was hard, and soul destroying but I like where I am now, I like knowing Jesus and I absolutely love knowing how bad things can be. Without great challenges we don’t get to enjoy great victories, and without the valley of despair we don’t realise how good we’ve got things. I wouldn’t do it again.
Such an eloquent response. Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing your story. “Without great challenges we don’t get to enjoy great victories.” Very well put. Thanks Dom for your response.
I would relive my teenage years (if I knew what I knew at 30 and older) for the opportunity to change the coarse of my life. The decisions I made as a teenager (getting married at 18) and feeling like I needed to be connected to someone to have any value would change. I would be able to feel the confidence I did at 30 and the choices I made wouldn’t all be just about me and for me.
I am much older and I realize all that insight and wisdom doesn’t really hit you until you get into your 40′s and 50′s. Everything you worked so hard for changes as far as the importance and urgency of them all.
Priorities change for every phase of our lives.
I know it’s not just me, I’ve talked to many older wiser people than me and when it’s Christ based, you can look back and see just how silly some of our priorities were. The way we think, what we look for in a spouse. Employment, children, hobbies and even religious thinking. As we grow up, we grow out. We start thinking outside the box that our parents and grandparents felt so comfortable in. We need to glean from them what is right and good, and respect what may have been just the times they were raised in. Make our own choice and decisions based on our individual walk in this life. Keeping in mind that God is always at the forefront.
Great thoughts. Thanks for sharing!
Well, I don’t think I would do it all over again. There are things I did in my teenage years that I am not proud of. But, in the end, it was those choices that made me realize life without God is a life that is never lived. When the time was right, I knew I needed God more than ever.
God has a plan for us, even when we are teenagers living our own life. Now I am so thankful that God allows me the opprotunity to work with youth. I pray for them and that God will guide them to the right choices now and later in life.
If given a “second change”?… A typo, perhaps? Well, second change or second chance,… no. I definitely would NOT do the teen years over. I felt like an outcast. Now that I am older(much) I know why I felt the way I did. Most of my problems stemmed from growing up in a family that did not know the Lord. There were some good memories. Some of the richest were of my brother, knowing that I was/felt likes an outcast, always found time to include me in some of his activities. Not a popular thing to do when you’re 16-18. I can see now that God had His hand on me even then. I just wish I was paying attention.
Are you kidding? No way. Now, if i could have all my life experience to take with me? OK then.
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Yes, to avoid some of the mistakes that I have made and no because it was very rough!!!!
My first thought was, “Yes, if can relive those years with what I know now.” Then I thought more.
If I want to do it again with adult knowledge, I wouldn’t really be reliving them. I would be taking advantage of people.
If the question is really about wanting to relive the past because of regrets, then no. I only would make different mistakes. I am happy with how I lived my life, knowing I’ve done my best.
If the question is about doing things I didn’t do then, why do I need that type of permission? I am an adult, capable of living the life I want.
So, why bother? I can still ride my motorcycle, love, and praise my God.
I dig your answer. It would change our perspective and course of life dramatically if we were given the opportunity to relive our life, and we actually did it. Great thoughts Bob. Thanks.
Never in a million years would I go back. Life back then was wonderful and I would not want to risk my chances on being handed something different. Christ was always the center in our home. A home full of music, laughter, security, and unconditional love. Yes, there were really difficult times and things I would certainly want to change. I think we can all say that. But, most of the things I look back on, the life changing choices I made as a teen, I would not change. My life right now would not be the same and the relationships I have now would never had existed. I might go back if I could pick and choose what parts of my teen years I could redo, but it’s my preference to look back and remember those times. It’s the good times back then that sustain me now and guide me in the decisions I make, the relationships I hold, and the encouragement I give.