There are inevitably lots of things that I wish I could do over in my life. After 21 years of living, I've learned lots of lessons, made mistakes, and made memories. Not all of it was enjoyable, but a lot of it was. If I could press the rewind button and go back to the days before I can consciously remember things, there are tons of things I wish that I could warn myself and tell myself so that I don't make mistakes; but since that list is so long, I've narrowed it down to 5 things.

1. Live by the golden rule, always.

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If you've never heard of the golden rule, it means to treat others the way that you want to be treated. As a little girl, I can recall treating those around me poorly at times, and not knowing that I needed to be nicer to people. Not only because it's how I'd like to be treated, but also because it's important to be kind and courteous to those that I do and don't know. Whether someone has been mean to you, don't get back at them. Just kill them with kindness instead. It's the better way out.

2. Use manners.

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I realize that at such a young age, understanding this concept can be challenging. In this day and age, for the most part, if a child isn't considerate of others around them, it can obviously be blamed on the parent. And this is not me saying that my mother never taught me to use my manners, because she did. This is me wishing I listened and didn't ever linger away from using them. No matter what age I was, it would have always made me a more approachable person. Lesson learned.

3. Reciprocate the feelings and don't try too hard.

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What I mean by this is friendships and relationships. I can't even count how many times I've been involved in a friendship where the effort didn't go both ways. I wish I'd known how to resolve these problems in my younger days because now, it's obvious. Anytime that a friend or significant other isn't matching the amount of effort should have shown me something. Today, it does. If I don't mean as much to them as they mean to me, then I shouldn't keep trying when there's nothing there.

4. Cherish the time that you have with your family.

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I've lost some very important people and pets from my life thus far, and I know this sounds like resentment, but it cannot be stressed enough - spend time with your family and those that you love dearly as often as possible. Any chance you get. I wish I had known this way sooner because I miss those I've lost so much, and there's no getting them back. I wish I was able to go back into time and spend more time with them; but since I can't, I'll take it as a lesson.

5. Make the most of what's right in front of you.

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All throughout the time that I was in elementary school, middle and high school, I never realized how short life really is. Nor did I know how important it was (and still is) to be making memories along the way. Without it, there'll be nothing left to reflect on when I'm in my 60s or 70s. That time is gone and over now. One thing I can tell myself in the present is that I should really enjoy my time in school now. After college is over, life will go at full speed and there won't be time to enjoy things as often as I can right now. Another lesson down in the books.

Time goes by far too quickly, and there was no way that I wasn't going to learn on the way up the ladder. Since I have, I want to always be able to remember these 5 lessons. If not, what am I doing?