What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?
The best advice I would give to someone younger than me is this: keep things simple.
That may sound too plain to be useful, but a lot of wisdom is plain. We often make life harder than it needs to be. We overthink, rehearse, second-guess, compare, delay, and worry.
Life is not simple in the sense that it is easy. Love is not easy. Work is not easy. Study is not easy. Anything worthwhile asks something of us. But not everything needs to be filled with anxiety.
When you meet someone you love, commit yourself to them. Give your whole self. Relationships require work, because anything worthwhile does. Love asks for patience, honesty, forgiveness, sacrifice, and the daily choice to keep turning toward one another. But a good relationship should not be filled with endless anxiety and second-guessing. It should not leave you constantly wondering where you stand. There ought to be enough trust, kindness, and steadiness for love to become a place of rest, not a continual source of fear.
The same is true of mistakes. Be honest about them. Learn from them. Apologise where you need to. Make amends where you can. But do not spend the rest of your life rehearsing history. There is no wisdom in pretending we have not failed, but there is also no virtue in letting every failure have the final word.
Prioritise people over things. Wealth, possessions, status, and achievement are all more fragile than they appear. People are precious. Healthy relationships are the currency of life.
Study and work matter too, but they are not meant to consume your whole life. Do your best. Be content with that. Find work that brings joy or meaning. Not every day will be inspiring. Some days are just work. But it helps if your work is connected to who you are and what you value.
So that is my advice. Keep things simple. Love deeply. Learn honestly. Forgive quickly. Value people. Do your best. Let go of what you cannot change.
Most of the important things are not complicated. They are just costly enough to require our whole heart.
The Afterword 
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