Megan Rapinoe: What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should…

The question

What counsel would you give your twenty-year-old self — and what should they ignore?

United States international footballer, 2006–2023

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Even more simply, you can ask yourself this question: "Do I truly care about equality for all people in this country?" If the answer is yes, then demand to be a better, more educated, more empathetic version of yourself. And demand the same of every single person you know.

First-person essay, The Players' Tribune, 6 October 2016 source ↗

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J.K. Rowling Novelist and screenwriter

So given a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone’s total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

Recorded Harvard University Commencement, 2008, Harvard Gazette, 5 June 2008 source ↗

Susan Wojcicki Chief executive of YouTube; Google's first marketing manager

Life doesn't offer you the perfect opportunity at the perfect time. Opportunities come when you least expect them ... Rarely are opportunities presented to you in a perfect way. In a nice little box with a yellow bow on top. ‘Here, open it, it's perfect. You'll love it.’ Opportunities -- the good ones -- are messy, confusing and hard to recognize. They're risky. They challenge you.

Recorded Johns Hopkins University Commencement, Class of 2014, HuffPost, May 2014 source ↗

Werner Herzog Film director, screenwriter and opera director

No. Go for it, as I did it. Go for all the mistakes. I made so many mistakes in doing my films. They all have a stutter or a limp or they are squint-eyed. Hardly anyone notices it, but I notice. Make your mistakes. Get arrested if you trespass. Yes. Do it. There’s nothing wrong with spending a night or two in jail. I’ve done that. Don’t be afraid of the grizzly bear behind you. Travel on foot. Read books.

Recorded Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 'The Last Word' interview, 1 January 2020 source ↗

Henry R. Kravis Financier; co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

When I went through school, I was in a hurry. I was an economics major as an undergraduate, and I was a finance major in graduate school. I was in a hurry to succeed when I got out in the business world. I’m sorry I didn’t take more courses in the humanities and in history and in the arts.

Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 12 February 1991 source ↗

More from Megan Rapinoe

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Question What does happiness look like for you when life is going well? Identity & self

“Until we are all free, we are none of us free.” —Emma Lazarus. Perfect happiness exists only in my imagination at the moment.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 1 July 2020 source ↗

Question What does everyone in your world seem to agree on that you think is wrong? Values & belief

I can understand if you think that I'm disrespecting the flag by kneeling, but it is because of my utmost respect for the flag and the promise it represents that I have chosen to demonstrate in this way. When I take a knee, I am facing the flag with my full body, staring straight into the heart of our country's ultimate symbol of freedom — because I believe it is my responsibility, just as it is yours, to ensure that freedom is afforded to everyone in this country.

Recorded First-person essay, The Players' Tribune, 6 October 2016 source ↗