Tidings to the Teenage Me

If I could go back and tell my 16-year-old self anything based off of the knowledge I have now, I would tell her to relax and have fun. That life doesn’t have to be taken so seriously that you forget to enjoy it. To seek experiences that will not only build your character but that you would truly enjoy, not just those that would lead to something bigger or those that would definitely set up your future. I would tell her to learn to laugh and it be a sincere response to true joy or hilarity, especially when it came to laughing at herself and her mistakes. I would tell her not to fear making mistakes because they were bound to happen and it wouldn’t be the end of the world. I realize now that once you reach adulthood, seriousness isn’t really an option, you’re kind of forced into that mode, so why not spend your youth being carefree. Not necessarily careless, but allow yourself to live in the realm of a teenager. I was always the girl who could stay awake into the next day to get a school project done, but the first to fall asleep at a sleepover. I was successful yes, but an anxious, and often stressed, successful young person. This carried over into my adult life and only now am I trying to “unlearn” all that I have been socialized to believe and programmed to do. While the destination is important, it’s the journey that makes it worthwhile.