Letter To My 16 Year Old Self

 Dear 16 Year Old Me,

What Zac Efron says in that movie you're about to go see with your friends, "17 Again," is true. When you're young any little bump in the road feels like the end of the world. But it's not. Keep your head up and keep your dignity. Don't show your emotions too much, to anyone, and especially not to everyone. People will judge you for having those deep emotions because they're young too- and haven't grasped how to have empathy for others. They might never grasp it-but they won't matter anyways. Have the attitude, "He's lucky to have me. And if he doesn't want me or treat me well, then oh well, I'm too busy to sit around and be sad about him." When you get older, you'll start to have that attitude. In fact you'll get over boys quicker than you can even comprehend right now. Or maybe you just end up picking the ones that are easy to get over, which is another letter for another day. But you learn to cope, and that's something worth knowing. So try to do that now. It'll save you time and energy. And your sanity too. Don't date that boy that's coming that seems mysteriously attractive. He's not worth your time. Focus on school, sports, choosing good friends, loving yourself, and loving others. But if you do by chance happen to date him, know that when you keep on breaking each others hearts and you cry on your bed every day because you're too young to handle feeling so much and dealing with so much, know that things will get better and you learn from this. I promise you, you learn so much. And not even all the important things like what type of guy you want (though, you learn that too) but you grow stronger. Each set of painful experiences you go through, makes your heart stronger and your coping abilities stronger and your mind goes from wild, crazy, sporatic, dramatic to deeply feeling things but calmly dealing (for the most part). And one of the main things you'll learn is that there are boys you want to love that look perfect on paper that you can't love. Don't waste too much time on them. You can still learn from them, but don't waste too much time. Time is more precious than you think it is right now. Then there are the boys you love that you shouldn't love because they don't have all the things you really want and need. You're just infatuated. Don't waste too much time on them either. But one day there's going to a be a boy that you love that has those things you want. You'll know when you've found him. But enough on the subject of love. You already think about that too much now anyways. I want you to know something very important. Are you listening? I know you don't listen too well right now, but hang in there with me a little longer. More than anything I want you to spend time with your family. Since you've been 14 or so, you've had a negative attitude about spending time with your family and it's one of the main things you'll regret when you're older. I promise you they are cooler than Facebook. They are cooler than your phone. They are cooler than your boyfriend. Heck, they're WAY cooler than your friends. Do me a favor and spend as much time with them as you can. I know it's not realistic to spend ALL of your free time with them. But spend more time with them, okay? I know you can do that. You may be a little selfish and preoccupied right now, but I know you've got it in you, under all those layers of self absorbancy, to give your family more of your time. Even if you don't see eye to eye with them all of the time, they can be your best friends. I want to say good job to you too. Because yeah, you're a prideful teenager. But you're also doing some things well. You've done a good job staying away from drinking and drugs. And even though your friends started cussing and doing other things you don't believe you should do, you've stayed strong to what you know is right. And I don't care who you are or what you believe, sticking to what you personally think is right, is a good quality to have. I'm proud of you for that. You haven't been perfect, no one is, but you've been trying and you'll continue to try and I applaud you for that! Thank you for setting your future self up to be great in a lot of ways. And my last bit of advice are to let loose and have fun. You won't be a teenager forever, even though it seems like it. You can make this fun if you want to- it's all up to you.

Xoxo,

Your Future Self