Dear Teenage Me,

I know life seems so hard sometimes, and you feel like you will never make it through these four years that are supposed to be the best years of your life. I know some days you hope that high school never ends, and other days you wonder why the days keep dragging by so slowly. You wonder why the star football player and you can’t seem to work out, why your Mom seems to constantly be on your back, why your life seems to have so much drama in it, why you have so many decisions to make at a time in your life that you feel least prepared to do so, and why it seems you never have time for yourself. Well, I am here to tell you to just quit.

Quit chasing the star football player, and getting yourself so upset when he takes all day to text you back. He is more than likely not going to go pro with this whole football career, so you need to quit believing that he is too cool or popular, just because he scored a few touchdowns last Friday, that he doesn’t have to treat you well. Plus, you don’t even truly like him nor are you even kind of compatible with him. You feel special, because so many people flaunt over him, and he chooses to make you feel like he wants you, sometimes. Quit giving him so much of your time, thoughts and heart and start focusing on you and those who actually care about you.

Quit fighting with your Mom. You have to stop taking your bad days and moods out on your family, sis. They are the ones who truly love you, and Mom, especially, puts a lot of time and energy into making sure you are as happy as you can be. She is the one who is always in your corner- cheering you on. Quit lashing out at her just because she is trying to help you with your silly “problems” or keep you from getting hurt. She could be the type of Mom that didn’t care about you, but instead she wants the very best for you in life, and it hurts her to see you upset about such unimportant things. And it hurts her even more when you make her the victim of your bad moods.

Quit getting so upset about all the little things. You’ll be surprised how many things really don’t matter in the long run. Quit getting so wrapped up in all of the drama at school, it is probably the result of a miscommunication, or none of your business. Also, quit getting so upset when you and your friends have a spat — it won’t last. It never does and you will all be at dinner tomorrow night laughing about the whole situation. Y’all always make up, so quit worrying yourself to death over the silly argument y’all had at practice. They love you and you love them, but you are all hard-headed, moody, stressed out, somewhat immature teenage girls.

Quit feeling like you have to have your life so together. You are a teenager! You are supposed to be worry free, having the time of your life, but instead, you are worrying about where you are supposed to go to college and what you are going to major in. Quit stressing — you are not supposed to have your life even kind of figured out in high school, and you can always transfer schools or change your major.

Quit putting yourself last and selling yourself short. Your health, happiness and grades are very important. Don’t get so caught up in everything else that is going on in the high school world that you start putting any of these things last. At the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself.

Lastly, thank you. Thank you for staying true to yourself, and for making me pretty dang proud of who you are. I know you definitely don’t feel like it, but you are doing great.

Spoiler Alert: You make it through, and everything is working out like it should be.

Love,

Future You