I find it funny how when I was teenager I would constantly daydream of what it would be like to be an adult. I constantly fantasized about how it would feel like to not have a curfew, eat whatever you want whenever you want, drive a car, and be a college football player - all the perks of being a young adult. I remember being so impatient with the process of growing up. I just wanted to get to adulthood and be “grown” already. My friends and I would always speak about what luxury cars we were going to drive, what million dollar homes we were going to buy right after college, what actresses and models we were going to date and what countries we were going to travel to. We were all young and ambitious, to say the least.

I also remember the first ever gift I’ve ever gotten for a woman, my first girlfriend. I made my father bring me to the mall to purchase two gold necklaces, both having a half hearted pendant so when you put them together, it completed a whole heart. At the cash register I remember my Dad telling me, “Don’t get excited son, you’ll be buying tons of these in the future." I thought to myself, "How could he say such a thing? This is the love of my life," thinking that me and the young woman were practically married. I would soon find out that my father’s words would turn out true, among all other things he was right about.

If I could go back in time and speak with my 13-year-old self, I wouldn’t really change anything. My teenage years were amazing to say the least. Especially that first teenage year. I would, however, give myself a few words of advice - even though I most likely wouldn’t listen. The most important advice I would give first and foremost, is to stop rushing life. Be patient, and enjoy your youth as much as you possibly can because time flies by much too quickly. Most of your life you will be an adult. Your teenage years are so valuable and memorable because there are only seven of them, and the early years count the most because once you hit 18, Santa Clause starts showing up with less and less on Christmas Eve. Being an adult does have its perks in regards to freedom, but that freedom is cancelled out because you now have to basically pay for all the fun freedoms in life. But we won’t dive into the financial stresses of being an adult today, that will make you age even quicker.

At 13 I was in 8^th grade. LeBron James was still on his first Cleveland Cavaliers team before he took his talents to South Beach, Eli Manning shocked the world beating the heavily favored New England Patriots in the Super Bowl, and the Phillies won the world series that fall in 2008. Iron Man had just came out that summer, and Tony Stark became my second favorite super hero shortly after. That was my last season in my Junior Football League, as well as my last season in travel league for basketball. I remember wanting to hurry up and finish so badly because I couldn’t wait to play for a high school team already. I would go back and tell myself, “Be patient, those days will come very soon. Enjoy this, enjoy everything that’s happening right now and most importantly, have fun. Above all else, have fun. And take lots of pictures because you’re going to want to laugh later on.”

Crazy to believe at that time, Snapchat and Instagram weren’t even created yet. And Twitter wasn’t very popular yet either with the mainstream pop culture. The main source of social media was Facebook, the one that changed everything. I’m thankful for those times though because I feel like my generation was the last to actually be outside all the time. The iPhone was out back then, but us kids didn’t have those yet. Some of us still had flip phones and blackberries, which is funny to fathom right now.

Life is still great right now, don’t mistake this for a letter displaying how life starts to suck when you get older. That’s not the message at all. In fact, depending on how you live it and how your perspective is on things, it gets even better. It certainly gets more difficult as more responsibilities begin to pile on as you grow with age, but its up to you to keep that young 13 year old in you. This is a letter to my 13-year-old self saying, slow down, enjoy every single moment, stay young for as long as you can, live in the moment before you start taking pictures and snaps of them instead. Play every single game like its your last, and when your mom forces you to go to the grocery store with her, don’t fight it, just go. You’re an adult for a majority of your life. You’re only a teenager for 7 years. Take advantage of each and every single second of those years. Trust me, you’ll thank me when you’re older.