16 is an interesting age. You're not yet legal to do anything, but it's monumental nonetheless. It's half of 32, a quarter of 64, and you're not yet an adult, but not still a child. It's confusing, I know. 16 is when everything starts happening. You may start looking at college and really start thinking about the real world. You enter the countdown to 18, and the countdown to college. Everything happens at once.16 is rough. I'm 5 years older than my brother, who just recently turned 16. Here are 16 things I want him to know as he turns 16.

1. Don't stress the little things

I know I do it, and I know you do it, but try really hard not to let the little things bother you. You’ll feel so much better!

2. "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think" — Dr. Seuss

This one kinda explains itself.

3. Alcohol is great and all but don't let it become something you rely on.

Especially for you. You’re a human, let’s get real. You’re not going to completely avoid alcohol. (right now you better be though! Not till college.) But when you do start drinking it, don’t let it become a habit. Take some sober weekends – you’ll appreciate it, your liver will appreciate it and your wallet will appreciate it.

4. Don’t let your chronic illness take over your life – you are more than your illness, embrace it.

IMPORTANT. YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR COLITIS. THE END.

5. Your sister will always be your number one girl.

Don’t let a girlfriend come between us. I’ll always be there for you, when she may not be. Love her and treat her right, but don’t forget about the girl who’s literally been there for you throughout everything.

6. Mistakes happen. We’re human. The important thing is that you learn from them, own up to them, and accept the consequences.

I’ve learned this one a lot this year. I want you to realize that people make mistakes. They mess up. Sometimes they mess up and it can’t be fixed, but all you can do is own up to it and apologize. Don’t deny it, don’t make excuses for it. If you make a mistake, people don’t want to hear excuses. They don’t want to hear names. They want to hear you own up to the mistake. There will be times you mess up and it will have major consequences. Accept them. Don’t brush them off.

7. Family will always be there when friends may not be. Don't push them away.

Going back to number 5, your family will forever be your number one support system. Once you start pushing them away, you lose that support. Your friends now may not be your friends in ten years, but your family will always be your family.

8. Your friends now may not be your friends in 5 or 6 years.

Live your life. Make those friends and keep them for as long as possible, but there comes a time In many friendships where it’s just time to let them go. It may suck, and it might be hard, but your true friends will find a way to stay in your life.

9. Don’t take life too seriously.

Have some fun. Take some time for yourself to de-stress. Don’t live your life day to day worrying about everything. Go on impromptu midnight adventures to playgrounds or Applebee’s. Say yes to that random adventure and say yes to that hike. Don’t turn down opportunities because they’re spontaneous.

10. A person’s a person, no matter how small.” — Dr. Seuss (he’s just full of advice)

Treat others with the respect you want back. Tall, short, dark skin, light skin, skinny, overweight, gay, straight, bi, whatever. It doesn’t matter. If you treat others with respect you’ll get respect. Don’t make fun of others just because they’re not like you. Look for the good in bad situations. Good people get in trouble too.

11. Spark Notes might be your best friend in high school, but some books are well worth the read.

"The Outsiders," "Of Mice and Men," "To Kill A Mockingbird" and so many more for example. You may want to spark notes these for the rest of your life, but I promise that Spark Notes won’t give you the full experience. The books you read in high school are chosen for a reason. You may not read all of them, but at least read some of them. Some of my favorite books are the ones I read in high school English.

12. You’ll learn the most valuable life lessons outside of school – it’s called life experience.

I’m going to be a teacher. I should be telling you that you’ll learn everything you need to know in a classroom, but that’s simply not the case. You’ll learn about math and science, English and social studies, but you won't learn about humanity. You won't learn about how important it is to go out of your comfort zone or positive ways to deal with stress. Lie your life outside of school. Learn from every little thing you do.

13. Go to sleep.

All-nighters are a good idea in theory, but you will definitely appreciate going to sleep early.

14. Don’t be afraid of what other people think of you.

You do you. Don’t let other people’s thoughts and beliefs influence what you like or don’t like. Be your own person.

15. Kind words and a smile go much farther than negativity and a frown.

You never know how much you can change someone’s day-to-day life, just by smiling.

16. Life isn’t a video game. You can’t just come back to live when you die and you can’t quit without saving and start over.

Treat yourself right. Be a good person. Don’t live with regrets, wishing you’d done something different. Do what you want to do and Live. Your. Life. You only get one.