People have always said hindsight vision is 20/20, and looking back at my middle school years I would have to agree. Middle school is a time where you’re figuring out who you want to be in high school. It can be a treacherous and scary road. It is the stage in life where all you want is to be a high schooler because if you were a little bit older, life would be a little bit easier. I wish I could go back and tell myself that it is not true. If I could go back and tell myself what I know now, I would in a heartbeat.
Dear middle school me,
First and foremost, you are not alone. Everyone has to experience this stage of life and as much as you want to fast-forward through it, don’t. Soon there will be a day when all you want is to be able to come home, and even better not have to pay the bills to the home. Just know you are beautiful, no matter how awkward of a stage you are in. I know your fashion choices are not always stylish and most of the time questionable, but don’t let the unrealistic standards of beauty distort your confidence. You will tire yourself out trying to compare yourself to the other girls. There will always be someone skinner, someone prettier, and someone smarter, however, that does not subtract from your worth. You are you and that is good enough.
Don’t lose yourself in the mess of trying to please everyone. Learn now that pleasing everyone is an impossibility. Don’t take life so seriously; it is important to learn to laugh at yourself sometimes. Boys do not define you. Let me make that very clear; your first kiss is not a life or death pressing situation, even though it may feel that way. It is more important to protect your heart from unnecessary heartbreak and misery. Friends will come and go. It is not your fault, it is a part of life, but the friends that stick with you, are the truest of friends that will last for a very long time. Popularity will last a moment, but character lasts a lifetime. Focus on building that now, not your social status because it won’t matter in five years or less. Don’t let the cruelty of people haunted by their own insecurities effect how you view yourself. It’s a losing game. Don’t let this time of egocentrism distract you from serving others. This is the time to step up and be a change in the community. Run to Jesus, faster than you’ve ever run. At the end of the day when everyone lets you down and they will, he will be your steady rock.
I think the hardest part of middle school is being introduced into a new world where not everyone gets a participation trophy anymore. It is so important not to be sucked into the vain culture that stems from self-consciousness that will plague middle schoolers.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to walk with the confidence and the knowledge that YOU are enough, just as you are.
Xoxo,
The college me
