Let's Go Back in Time & Give Our Younger Selves the Low Down on Life, The Universe & Everything

Have you seen your younger self in the form of a random adolescent? Maybe he or she was walking down the street, maybe they casually perused overpriced merchandise at the mall or were standing in line at a movie theater to see Arnold Schwarzenegger vigorously bust a vein ...
Whatever the case, you slow your roll and notice a sliver of yourself in them. Perhaps it's their style of dress or speech or the company they keep and it gives you the urge to march over and share your wisdom, all your deep secrets on life, the universe and everything: none of this will matter 10+ years from now -- these people, these places, this drama. Study hard so you can get a damn job and don't sweat the small stuff.
However, your gut-reaction is halted by the knowledge the adolescent won't care what you say. There's no way to understand until you've gone through it and, frankly, you're some random "old" stranger to them. Stranger danger! This person isn't my mom! Help!
From time to time, you suddenly wake and reality smacks you hard in the face: you're older and hardly recognize yourself and your life. Who are you? What are you doing? What are you wearing? Look at those wrinkles! You stress, have a brief psycho-billy freak out and then return to the foggy chaos of living instead of planning to live.
Do you wish upon a star to travel back in time to stop your younger self from doing something or thinking a certain way like Marty McFly? Joe, whatever you do, don't date Sally! She'll break your heart into a million pieces and then set those pieces aflame because she's a stone-cold monster! Or you wish to do it all over again now you have it all figured out because hindsight is 20-20. Well, you can't. So, get over it already because even if you could go back in time you'd probably screw up the time continuum and end up screwing up your life even worse -- Cynical 101.
Back to reality. What strikes me about seeing my younger self the other day -- some chunky chick walking down the street on a hot summer day yet wearing a sweater to hide her bulk while desperately trying to impress some useless thug (sigh) -- was human beings often believe their hardships are unique. Their negative feelings and circumstances are separate from the rest of the universe. No one has ever felt the way I feel about you. Barf. This isn't to say everyone is not unique overall but it's important to remember there are always people out there with greater hardships, greater sadness. Whatever happens to you -- heartbreak, depression, anxiety, poverty -- it's been done before. You aren't the only person in the world feeling the way you do.