We all have moments we wish we could back and change, or relive, and things that ultimately we wish we could have stopped from happening. To bring in the new year, I thought about things that I wish I could have told my freshman, 15 year old self.. (in a sort of poetic way)..

1. There will come a time when a woman tells you that you ought to be more fragile.
 She’ll say you ought to be like a flower.
 What she’ll say is that you should be soft and delicate, that all good women attract the eye without being loud and that being like a flower is fresh and inviting.


2. What she’ll mean is that you should be submissive, that your appearance is solely for the enjoyment of others and you shouldn’t speak your opinion when it isn’t asked of you, that when a man sits down uninvited like a flower being plucked from the garden it is a compliment, not a threat.


3. Baby girl, you can dress to please somebody else if you wish, but don’t you dare deny yourself that pink blouse because you’re worried it isn’t appealing, if you like it you buy it.


4. You do not need to be loud to be heard, but don’t you dare back down when you feel strongly about something because you’re worried they’ll call you opinionated. 


5. Have an opinion, feel strongly about it, and speak up when it’s being violated.


6. When a man sits down at your table he is not always going to have ill intentions sweetheart, and you shouldn’t need to keep your house key between your fingers when he gets too close.


7. But remember to go for the eye if he does.


8. There will come a time when a boy tells you to be a little harder. Be like glass, he’ll say. 
 He’ll explain it as being strong enough to hold your own weight and being strong enough that you don’t crack when he throws pebbles at your window because he wishes to love you.

9. What he’ll mean is be submissive enough to break when he puts his fist to you instead of a pebble and be dependent enough to shatter when he no longer stands beside you.


10. Darling, you must turn around and walk away.

11. If he must know that he can break you, he does not know how to love you right.


12. If you do not know that he will not break you intentionally, he does not know how to love you right.


13. Be a diamond.


14. Love, you must shine for yourself.


15. Let others admire the way you gleam loudly under bright lights and glint quietly in dimness.


16. Allow yourself to be shaped by the world surrounding you, but do not crack under the pressure of it.


17. The pressure is what makes you strong.


18. You are beautiful in the smallest mom and pop shops. 


19. You are beautiful in the biggest retailers.


20 You are valued very much by so many.


21. Please understand that you are never something to be thrown away. 


22. Know you are a treasure, but you may bring pain to someone that’s lost you. It’s best to let them go.


23. Never forget that I am always here to polish you up after a bad day so you can see the shine you forgot you had.


24. Remember that your father will put you back in his safe after that boy leaves and you feel like shattered glass, and he will keep you until someone worthy of your love comes.


25. You are a diamond baby, and it’s exactly how you ought to be.