As we get older, we grow, evolve and learn. Looking back, maybe there’s a piece of advice you wish you had known when you were younger.
So, for this month's Big Question, we asked you: What do you wish you could you tell yourself when you were coming of age?
Below are some of the responses we heard from people in downtown Concord and at Portsmouth Pride. You can find July’s Big Question here.
Ashley from New Hampshire:
"I would tell my coming-of-age self to just be okay with who you are and to love yourself for who you are."
Van from Groton:
"I would say to continue my higher education. I would tell myself, go back, get the degree and be the architect."
Alex from Concord::
"Approach life with confidence. Don't hesitate and just enjoy the moment. Don't worry too much looking back or forward because everything will be okay… We're standing in front of my coffee shop [Revelstoke Coffee] right now, and that was a big moment for me in taking a big risk and trying something out. And it's worked very well and we're very excited to be in business five years later and be cruising along."
Ellen:
"I came out at 16 in 1995, and the advice I would give to myself then is the world and your community has changed so much to have so much support, you wouldn't even believe it. And there's a long way to go. But stay strong and always be yourself."
Sean from Newmarket:
"Don't buy so much junk because it really is just going to clutter up your life and you want to save your money."
Steph:
"Please calm down. It's okay. No one's paying attention to you. That sounds terrible, but hear me out: You feel like everyone's watching you. You feel like everyone's judging you. You feel like everyone thinks you're an idiot. They're not. They're not noticing you. It's okay. You can make mistakes. You're the only one who's noticing. It's okay. I love you. You're okay. Calm down."
Rebecca from Bedford:
"I'm never going to have things figured out that I'm always going to be changing. How I was last year is going to be completely different than how I am next year. And to just try and be kind to myself and meet myself where I'm at in the moment. And as long as I'm trying to make personal growth, that's all that I can do day to day. My only job is to try and do better than me yesterday. That's the only person I've ever been in competition with. And it took a while to get there, but I'm still learning about myself to this day, and I think you should always be learning about yourself."
Reporting for this piece was contributed by Christina Phillips and Sara Plourde.
