Nice to Meet You!

I would say I have definitely changed in some areas but others are still very much at the core of who I was then and am now.

I grew up into a person who knows they are good at what they do and thusly have very little fear or concern about proving it.

However there are still many aspects of life I believed in strongly back then as I still do now.

I had very low tolerance for being around and dealing with people who were bad at what they did along with having very little use for bigots, cheats, liars, idiots, fools, fakes, posers and the like.

Even back then I put more value into learning about and doing what's right over doing what's popular just as I do now.

Same with how I live. Being like everyone else and chasing after what everyone else wanted was just not interesting or all that appealing to me. Still see life that way.

So yea the outward person I am now is more knowledgeable, skilled, disciplined and confident (grown up) but the core person I was and what I believed in then is still very much a part of who I am now.

Now if by some near impossibility I was given the change to go back in time and meet my former 14 year old self I know I would bring along a list of about 8 - 10 people with a very well written out and detailed account of what advice they will give and actions they will do and why it should never ever be taken or followed. (critical turning points in my life that I believe created devastating long term negative effects.)

No advice on what stocks to buy or anything like that. Just do not believe or trust these people regarding certain topics and events and your life will be better off in ways no amount of money or power can buy (of which I would probably have if I not followed and did what they said and done or prevented them from doing.)

" critical turning points "

Just by merely acknowledging your weaknesses and working towards a resolution is a good thing,, friend.

Unfortunately those resolutions tend to include being far more wary and weighted in the hows and whys of what I choose to pursue any more.

But all things considered I have to say for me being an adult is still a magnitude or two of order easier than being a kid or a teen or at least what it was for me.

Fromage 18 on forward that being able to actually give someone the middle finger and just walk away from their petty nonsense and stupidity when I had enough of it and leave them to clean up their own messes was real game changer for the better!

I would say you have serious problems if you have not changed a lot since the age of 14! Who would want to be a middle schooler for life?

I wouldn't say that maturing is really changing. Fundamentally, I am still the same person I was at age 14. I have the same overall values, motivations, and weaknesses. I was driven to excel from the time I started school. I didn't do it to impress anyone or my parents or anything, it was a desire to see how well I could do. It was also humbling to go from academic standout in the public schools to be Mr. So-So Average at engineering college. Certainly I have matured in the sense of a better understanding of social orders and mores. I tended to procrastinate those things I really didn't feel like doing and the same is true today. Deadlines provided motivation then as it does now. Back then, good enough wasn't good enough, and that is something I still have to work on and not over-do things at the detriment of the overall mission.

Similar sentiments here as well. I too never have done much of anything to impress anyone but myself much to the dismay of others.

Learning and doing new things has always came easy to me. Too easy I think.

I've had a number of jobs where I was told that to become proficient in what I was hired for would take years to do but I managed to become one of the top people at what I did in short order (5 - 8 months or less) much to the unjustified fear and concern of my less than capable managers and bosses at those places who thought I was after their jobs when I had no interest in them.

It would be really great to be able to pee and get erections as easily as I did then....

So you're saying your level of appreciation has changed?

Wait up!!

Nothing a few Popsicle sticks, duct tape, and a vacuum pump can't cure. Cheer up, gramps! In a few years you won't even remember what you could do back then.

Uhmm, there's a couple of spam advertisements down here sometimes, something about muscles and testo kind of thing. Wouldn't help at all?

I can honestly say that at 22 years old I was a profoundly different person from 14 after 3 years of disciplined US Army training and experience.

I will forever believe all young people could positively benefit from the experience even though it has been somewhat watered down since then.

Hooker

The bows I make can shoot an arrow much further now than the ones I made when I was 14.
It's a relief that the testosterone has calm down a tad... I can even even walk through the lingerie section in the department store these days
Del

Nice one Del, but certainly, not on dirty lingerie laundry