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It would probably be fair enough to assume that every single one of us sometimes dreams about traveling a few years (or a few decades) back in time. Some of us would like to go back and change a few things here and there, some would like to experience the best moments of their lives once again, and some, well, some people would simply love to go back to when life felt easier. The list goes on and on. Though despite the reasons behind it, the idea of time travel and being able to change your past itself is an interesting and tempting concept. But here's a thing—what if you could go back in time and meet a younger version of yourself? What would you like to do then?

Let's take a moment to explore this kind of scenario. Recently, Twitter user A_l_a_n__G shared a post asking others what are the 3 words they would tell their 18-year-old self through time travel.

Without further ado, Bored Panda invites you to look through some of the best responses.

Many of the most popular responses included people advising their younger selves to buy Amazon, Apple, or Microsoft stocks. "I wanted to buy $4000 of Amazon stock very early on. Husband said I was nuts and badgered me, so I didn't. Instead, we put it with the money we had saved for the down payment on a bigger house. Still kicking myself. I knew I was smarter than him," someone commented. "Imagine your future self says 'invest in Apple.' But you don’t know that is. So you pour money into orchards and become the biggest apple (small “a”) magnate in the world," another user added.

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Also, apparently, many people would advise themselves to marry or not to marry a certain person. For instance, one user shared that their 3 words would be "marry that girl." Someone commented on this tweet by saying this: "Can you find her? Is she legally available? At 77, my uncle found his high school sweetheart on FB. Both sides had spouses dead over 5 years. They are having the BEST time! SO happy! Live 1000 miles apart, so airplane and visit. Look her up!!!"

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One user shared that they'd rather say nothing and give their younger self a hug instead. "I’d give her a big hug because she wasn’t getting many at home and she’d been through a lot of crap in those short 18 years," the user wrote. "Never too late to be kind to yourself. I hope there are many warm, safe hugs in your life now," another user replied.

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Eepe
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good advice. I thought putting others first... being taken advantage of... one day someone would do the same for me. Obviously I’m no where near perfect and made plenty of mistakes... but it turns out i should have lived my life the way i wanted to and not let ANYONE get in my way, because no one else gives a s**t. There’s a lot more to unpack on that general statement... but she’s right about ‘like yourself first’ in soo many ways.

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The original post by A_l_a_n__G has since gone viral and it currently has over 20k likes, almost 18k quote tweets, and over 2.5k retweets. What would your response be after hearing this question? Let us know down in the comments!

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Lara Löwenherz
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I would say the same thing. And if 4 words were allowed i would ad a"now"

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Karynne Williams
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know I could have used this advice in my 20's. I know it now, 30 years later.

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Night Owl
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Panic never helps anything or anybody (except sometimes in serious life and death situations, like the instinct to run out of a burning building)

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Blarrg
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember chatting with my brother who was into tech. He was saying that Apple stock was very, very cheap. He said they were about to introduce a new product that would store and play digital music. The iPod. He said if it took off, which it might, it would go big. If it failed, it would probably be the end of Apple. He said if I had a grand to invest, it would be a good gamble. Neither of us had a grand we thought we could risk at the time...

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ArhomR
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Thou shalt not covid thy neighbour’s life. Wear a mask.”

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Note: this post originally had 54 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.