old person thinkingWhat’s the one thing that you know now that you wish you knew growing up?  Several celebrities recently answered this very question and you might be pleasantly surprised by their wisdom. In fact, I wish I’d read the article at 19 instead of 39.

Here, a few of my favorite answers:

Diane Keaton, actress, author:

It would be to embrace those moments when with your loved ones, especially your mother and father. It's much easier to avoid the intimacy but I think it's important to go there, to feel what it's like, to fish around. It's hard to engage in such deep, profound feelings that we have with the people who gave us life, no matter what we may think of them a lot of the time.

 

Bob Balaban, actor:

It's very, very simple: Everybody is in the same boat. People may look more polished and like they know what they're doing and have no trouble and everything's easy for them. But mostly everybody on the inside is going, 'oh my God, how will I get through this?' And when you know that, it's really a relief.

 

Kathleen Turner, actress:

I'll tell you something: A whole bunch of us contributed to this book called Dear Me. It's a compilation of letters to your younger self. We were all asked to write letters to our 16-year-old self -- the money goes to support Doctors Without Borders -- and there's one theme that stands out in a lot of the letters: Don't let people tell you that you can't do something, because they don't know any more than you do. And I believe in that. Go with your gut. Don't let anybody tell you what you can't do.

 

Susan Hess Logeais, activist and filmmaker:

Self-acceptance and forgiveness.

 

Chip Coffey, psychic:

I know now that every second of every moment of every day is a gift and you should live your life accordingly. I've learned to always say 'thank you' and 'forgive me.' Those are the two most important things. Thank you for everything and forgive me for everything. That's how I live my life.

 

Deborah Copaken Kogan, author, The Red Book:

I would say in general terms that it's not what you've achieved that counts; it's who you've become.

All of these messages are so powerful and really, don’t we all wish we had known these tidbits of wisdom as teenagers?

To see what more celebrities had to say, see 50 Celebs on What They Wish They Knew Growing Up.

What do you know now that you wish you knew growing up?


Image via Alyssa L. Miller/Flickr