Being 19-years-old is one of those awkward ages between 18-and-21 where you just graduated from high school and you are trying to figure out who you are and what you want to do with your life. You don't know what to study in college. Maybe you just got your first job. 19 is one of the growing years; not growing in height, but growing in your personality. Some days you are falling apart, and some days you are the strongest person in the world. Some days you google how to adult and some days you are confident in your "adulting" skills.

1. You don't need a lot of friends, just a few close friends.

When you graduate, you realize that some of your friendships were based on seeing each other everyday. I honestly only talk to one person I graduated with almost everyday. That is how you know the friendship can last – when a year later, you are still best friends and not seeing each other everyday has made you two closer.

2. You can't make others happy if it makes your happiness suffer.

Your happiness is the only thing that matters. You cannot let others ruin it. Don't let your happiness suffer to make others happiness prosper. If a relationship or friendship is causing you to suffer because it is toxic – get out, you can't let them be happy. Who cares if they think you are narcissistic for cutting off the ties? You need to worry about your happiness not the billions of other people living on Earth.

3. Forget the past, don't worry about the future, and live in the present.

There is no greater present than the present. Your past cannot define you and you cannot worry about tomorrow before tomorrow can worry about itself. Your past doesn't define who you are, it may be apart of you and it shaped you, but it does not define the person you are today. You can't worry about the future because – I don't know if you know this yet but – you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, so why worry about something that you don't know about? Its useless. Living in the present is the best way to live your life.

4. Don't let people guilt you into doing something you don't want to do.

Guilting someone into doing something is childish to begin with. If you don't want to do it, don't. Don't let anyone guilt you into a date. Don't let anyone guilt you into giving them money. If you don't want to do something – don't do it.

5. Your health is the most important thing.

If you feel like breaking, take a mental day. Your school work is not more important than your mental health (or any health for that matter). If you are sick, don't go to work – you could, one, make it worse and, two, get your co-workers sick. If you aren't feeling like yourself, take a day (whether sick day or mental day) and worry about you. Stay in bed and watch Netflix all day, or take a bath or get a massage.

6. Google is your best friend.

You can find anything on Google. Sometimes you will Google song lyrics, sometimes it will be how to be healthy in college, and sometimes you might even google how to adult. You will Google everything and anything you want to know. Google will become your best friend and answer source.

7. You are in control of your life.

You can change your hair color if you want. You are in control of what you say and do. However, you can't control what happens to you or how people react to you. But you are in control of who you are and how you respond to others and the events happening in your life.

8. Find the good in everything.

This can be almost impossible for some people but it is necessary. To live a positive life, you have to have positive thoughts and you can't have positive thoughts around negative people. Change who you hang out with if you have to, but thinking positive will change your life in such a way that you will be surprised.

9. Believe in something.

Believe in a higher power that will give you faith. I personally believe in God. Believing in this higher power can change your outlook on life and the way you live your life.

10. Follow your dream.

Don't follow another dream because someone in your life has that dream and it sounds good. You have to follow your dream and find your own path.

11. You can't force people to like you.

You are not going to be liked by everyone, some people's personalities just clash with yours and that is okay. The people that don't like you don't matter. Would you want someone to force you into liking them? No. So don't force people to like you because it doesn't feel good for either party.

12. Do what you love to do.

Seriously, this is kind of a no-brainer. If you love something, it probably makes you really happy. If you love drawing, make time to draw. If you love dancing, make the time to dance -- whether on your own or with a group. Always make time for what you love to do and your life will be happier in the long run.

13. Don't hold grudges.

Besides this just being really petty, it's bad for your health. It can cause distress that could be avoided if you forgive and forget. You tend to build your whole life around hating that person and avoiding them that you forget to live your life. Just forgive and forget, it is easy and totally the best thing to do for you.

14. Don't compare yourself.

Don't do it. Don't compare yourself to the girl you passed in the hallway, or the guy running faster than you on the trail. It's pointless and you end up setting goals for yourself that you may not be able to reach. Don't think you are ugly because you don't look like that model you saw in a magazine – everyone is beautiful in their own way so comparing yourself to others is useless.

15. Don't be hard on yourself.

You are your harshest critic. Chances are, you are being way harsher on yourself then those around you. Try are hardest and do your best because that is all you can do.

16. Don't stress the little things.

If you find yourself saying you freaked out for no reason -- this is definitely for you. I recently broke the slider off of my boyfriend's hoodie and freaked out, just to realize, it was for no reason. He wasn't mad and he kinda just laughed it off. That is when I realized I freak out for literally no reason whatsoever. It took something as little as breaking a zipper slider for me to realize I am wasting my life stressing over little things that don't deserve my time anyway. So sort out what is and isn't worth your time and don't stress over spilled milk.

17. Sometimes, you have to tap into your inner child.

Honestly, at 19, I'm still trying to figure out how to adult. But sometimes you have to let loose and let the inner child in you out. You have to find people that you can be a child with. Those are the best relationships – where you can both act like a kid together and know exactly when it is time to go back to "adulting."

18. Your gut feeling is normally right.

Intuition is great – and usually right. If something feels wrong to you, it probably is. If your gut is telling you someone is sketchy, they probably are. Trust your intuition and if something feels wrong, don't do it. Trust how you feel!

19. Be yourself!!

Honestly, people will love you for who you are and if they don't, that isn't your fault. Don't pretend to be someone you're not just so you can have friends. True friends will love you for who you are and won't try to change you. Change for no one and just be yourself.