What would you tell your 18-year-old self?

Reader RD recently sent me an email asking for advice to give to barely-legal people like him:

Subject: hey there :D

First of all, I’d like to thank you for putting this little piece of cyberspace awesomeness up. Obviously, just from the “:D” smiley, you could already tell I’m not exactly that mature yet. lol. 18 to be exact. I’m an avid [yet discerning] reader (’di pa ’ko super legal hehehe) anyway, I suddenly thought of something I’d actually want to hear from you: advice for the new-bloods like me. If you want pa nga something more dramatic, what would you tell your 18 year-old self? :D I know that teens aren’t exactly your target audience, but whatever. lol. pretty please?

can’t wait ’till your next posts,
-Romeo Delta

Dear RD,

Thanks for the compliment and for supporting this site! I must say that it is tough to find a suitable general advice to give to young people like you. I guess it’s much easier to give advice if there’s a specific problem to be tackled, right? Another problem I see is that I observe that gay/bi guys are starting to come to grips with their sexuality and exploring around at a much younger age. (I guess the growing acceptance of homosexuality—nagiging uso daw—has something to do with it.) So trying to put myself in the shoes of people like you might be difficult.

Anyway, I think your idea of what I would tell my 18-year-old self is very good, so let’s do it!

I don’t really have any regrets and I consider the mistakes I made to be lessons learned. But I would definitely advise my 18-year-old self that he’ll be facing life-changing experiences in the coming years. I’d advise him to take things one at a time (especially when it comes to exploring the PLU world). The thrill of meeting new guys and the excitement of getting laid is quite natural at this young age and it’s very easy to get carried away.

I’d tell him that there’s nothing wrong with exploring but to always remember to keep one’s head and to always be careful. Finally, I’ll tell him to find good friends—friends who know about his situation since he’s in the closet. The friend can be one of the guys he meets or a close existing friend that he can open up to. Having someone to pour out one’s heart to, especially in PLU matters, is one good way of relieving emotional stress.

RD, I know it may not be much but I hope that this helps. If this isn’t what you’re looking for, you know what to do.

Sincerely,
Vince

P.S. I don’t think using “:D” smileys speaks of an “immature” mind. But I do definitely think that using txtspk wen ur nt txting is appalling.

How about you guys: what would you tell your 18-year-old self?