If I should have a daughter, there's much that she'll need to learn. I've learned a lot in my 18 years and counting, and I have many more lessons coming my way. My parents have always been there for me when I needed them, and they've helped guide me through some tough situations and hard decisions. I hope to be as great of a mom as my own mom was, and I've already started my training. As I go through life, I make mental notes of some important lessons I've learned, and one day, I'll share them with my daughter. Here are seven things I wish to tell her.
1. Always do your best, but don't stress too much
When school is weighing you down, it's easy to drown in all of the pressure and workload riding on you. It's important to carry that weight as far as you can since everything you do is a step toward your future. You have to make those steps count. But some things are not worth breaking your back over, and it's necessary to recognize what is and what isn't.
2. Know your limits
In order to know your limits, you need to be in tune with yourself. What are your likes or dislikes? Where do your morals stand? When is enough too much? Crossing the line is often hard to come back from, not to mention it can often bring you down a path you never wanted to go down in the first place. Know where your finish line is, and then know where the wall you can crash into behind it is.
3. Lean in first, but let him seal the deal
This is a brand new age for women. The work is no longer left for just the men, so who says they still have to make the first move? My trial and error with this philosophy are at a 100 percent success rate; boys love a girl who knows how to make up her own mind and follow through with it.
4. Never go anywhere without chapstick
Chapped lips are worse than chipped nails or even frizzy hair. Why? Because they don't do your smile justice. Your smile is how you speak to people without saying words, how you show the world a piece of your soul without explaining it. Keep your smile bright and beautiful, always.
5. Don't be afraid to say what you feel
Although the responses won't always be what you want, there will always be a weight off your chest every time you say how you feel. As long as you know when it's the right time, saying what you feel opens up more doors than you think, and putting your heart on the line only strengthens it for every time it falls or breaks.
6. Smile at least once a day into the mirror
The world can be a hard place to live in; it affects everyone. It's important to remember that things or other people are not the sole reasons for your happiness. YOU are in charge of your happiness. On a particularly hard day, after you get into a fight with your mom or your best friend isn't talking to you, make sure to find yourself in a mirror and smile, because she's the one who will always be there for you.
7. Believe in second chances
My mother told me believing in second chances is one of the bravest things a person could do. To overlook a mistake, or to brush off a broken heart, takes willpower unparalleled to anything else. There's a reason why receiving second chances feel like blessings, because the only one who's known for giving second chances is God.
