When you’re growing up, everyone always warns you to cherish those moments because they will be over in the blink of an eye. As I sit here, 18 years later, it’s finally dawned on me how true those words actually are. I spent countless minutes, months, and even years of my every waking moment trying to impress people who didn’t even know me. I wasted so much energy worrying about crafting the perfect image of myself in order to be proven worthy in their eyes that I missed out on some major opportunities for self-growth. There is nothing that I regret more than the way that I shaped myself in my younger years, forever hoping to be noticed and approved of by strangers who were solely caught up in their own lives. While it’s hard to admit, I even modified my behaviors, attitudes, and physical looks in order to conform to an unspoken standard that so many teenagers lived and died by. I’ve always felt guilty for not living life the way that I wanted to live it, for not paving my own path. So, this is a letter to everyone out there who is still trying to navigate the difficult sea of life, but who is trapped beneath the surface and gasping for a breath of air. Don’t let the water fill your lungs. Take advantage of the mistakes that I made and learned from as a teenager in order to avoid experiencing them yourself. Be you, make your own path, follow your own passions, and don't worry about what people think!
1. You don’t need a date to go to prom, just go to have fun.
2. Going makeup free won’t kill you. If anything, it is a display of self-confidence and love. Take it from T-Swift!
3. Glasses don’t equal dorkiness, they just mean that you have poor vision.
4. Words do hurt and spreading rumors can only do more damage. Strive to be kind to everyone!
5. Try new things because they actually interest you, not because you are trying to impress someone.
6. Eating that extra piece of bread isn’t the end of the world, just treat yourself.
7. Staying up until 3:00 in the morning to finish homework is completely unnecessary (save the all-nighters for college). Sleep is more important!
8. Sitting with that person who is eating alone at lunch is worth the judgmental stares because you can take pride in knowing that you made someone’s day better.
9. Spend as much quality time with your family as possible. Sooner than you know it, you’ll be out on your own and you'll have to figure out life for yourself.
