Dear Chris
Here I am at 61 years old having just become a grandad, while you're awaiting your A-Level results as you stand at the start of your adult life.
I remember being there. The day I got my results I had my first cigarette, which was the start of a smoking habit that would last for almost thirty years. I had my last smoke fourteen years ago, but today was diagnosed with smoking related bronchial disease. I'll be having tests to determine the extent and treatment, but it will affect the rest of my life. And probably shorten it.
So my first piece of advice to you would be Don't Smoke. Will you take it on board? Would I have done? I don't know. At 18 years old you're young and invincible, with the world at your feet, not ever once thinking that one day you'll be old with health issues.
My next piece of advice is to carry on learning. I stopped trying at school in my A-Level years and as a result failed the exams. Many years later I tried to get into university at the same time as my 18 year old daughter, but was unsuccessful. I continued with work related financial exams, studying in my own time and enjoying the learning, but it was too little too late to make any real difference to my life. Take the opportunities you're offered early in life and reap the rewards later on.
I had the opportunity to attend RAF pilot selection, and if I'd taken it and been successful my life could have been very different. I could have retired early on a good pension - or I could have been killed in combat. Never regret missed chances, as everything happens for a reason. Always stay positive and look forward.
Don't rush into marriage. You're going to be around a long time. Very few people find their life partner first time, so take your time and get a soul mate. Don't bow to peer pressure. Do it in your own time, and you'll find yours lasting where theirs might not. I married early, then divorced, although the silver lining for us both was daughters and a granddaughter - with maybe more grandchildren to come.
What job should you do? No-one can tell you that. Only you know what really interests you, and it's said that if you do something you love you'll never work a day in your life. I hope you find it. I never did. Sure, I had jobs I liked alongside people I enjoyed spending time with, but my real loves and interests lay elsewhere. Try and put the two together, whether self-employed or with the greater financial security of working for someone else.
Always pay your way. Stay on the right side of the taxman, your bank and the mortgage company and never let your debt get out of hand. Everything that glitters isn't gold, and it's not worth ruining your life by trying to live beyond your means. As you get older your income will increase, your outgoings reduce, and things once out of reach will become attainable. It's worth waiting for.
Do something occasionally that gets the adrenaline flowing or makes the heart race. Burt Munro (Google him) once said that you live more in 5 minutes flat out on a fast motorcycle than most people do in a lifetime. I've never done 5 minutes, but I've done enough to understand. Try it.
A lot has happened since that day I stood where you are now. Along the way I've got older, although never really given in to it or felt it until now. I always said I'd go out on my motorbike on my one hundredth birthday and I'd still like to be in that position, but realise now it probably won't happen.
If I knew then, on that day I smoked my first cigarette, what I know now, would I have done anything differently? I like to think I would, but I can't guarantee it. I've made poor choices and decisions, but the good has outweighed the bad and I've a lot to be thankful for. I've made a lot of good memories.
So live your life like you mean it. Make your own mistakes, and learn from them. Be honest, treat others with respect, and keep challenging yourself. You only get one shot at a life so make it count.
Enjoy
Chris
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