The person I was as a 16 year old feels like a total stranger to me, although we may not be too far apart in age, there are some huge differences in personality. Not only did she have dreadful dark eyebrows and heavy black eyeliner, she also had a full life and plenty experiences ahead of her.
There is so much advice I wish I could go back and give my teenage self. Now looking back, I remember all the worries I had which seemed like the world was ending then, but absolutely miniscule in the wider scope of things now.
Stop Stressing About Job Paths
Choosing a career path is a huge commitment to make, especially for a young 16 year old straight out of sixth year. This decision could be one you will be paying for the rest of your life. For me, I was a wreck trying to decide what I wanted to be. Everyone around me seemed to have known what they wanted to be since primary, and were all keenly applying for university and colleges hoping to get the all green and get accepted. But me, I was the opposite, the thought of university scared the living daylights out of me, especially when I had been so indecisive about choosing a career. My school in particular were very pushy about University and were very clear in expressing to everyone that this was the best path to take if you want to be successful, which definitely isn’t true and did add to the pressure of making a decision. I went through phases of wanting to be an air hostess, photographer, open my own business, children’s doctor, forensic scientist, you name it- I wanted to be it, but still I didn’t feel drawn enough to actually take the jump.
Slow down!
Life goes super fast, and there is plenty time to be an adult and do adult things. As soon as I was introduced to makeup and fashion, I immediately dropped my beloved Bratz dolls and moved on from playing with them, to wanting to look like them. Through YouTube I would spend hours watching tutorials on how to do makeup looks, and do myself up to sit in my room and dwell about how much my eyeshadow wasn’t as blended as the girls in the video. I started wanting to go out with friends shopping instead of swimming, and lost my sense of imagination. This probably can be classed as just the usual growing up, but I feel kids nowadays are even worse! and its not until you really ARE grown up, when you realise how much you took advantage of being, just a kid.
Don’t be afraid to be different
As a teenager I would say that I did have my own sense of style, but at the same time I did follow a lot of trends and did fit the ‘stereotypical;’ 16 year old stereotype. It can be hard as a teenager to stand out from the crowds and be a bit different, as everyone knows what high school can be like with gossiping and bullying. I was often scared to do certain things in case others found it weird or they didn’t like it also, which sometimes did lead to me not sharing some of my interests and hobbies as much as I would have wanted to. For example, in high school I loved to write just as I do now, whether that be in a diary or writing stories I would love it, but never would I dare tell anyone due to the fear of being laughed at. Other examples include loving certain classes, such as English or Media which were the most hated subjects by most teenagers, therefor I felt I had to pretend to hate them too, just to fit in. This also applies to fashion sense and trends, if there was something I liked but knew others might find it a but extreme or different, I of course would not buy it. Looking back now, I think this is so stupid and you should never have to hide your main interests or be afraid to wear what you want due to being afraid of what others think, you should totally embrace it and I wish I could go back and tell my younger self this today.
Spend as much time as possible with grandparents
When you are young you don’t really realise how lucky you are to have grandparents still with you, it just seems like they will always be there and the thought of them not never really crosses your mind, but I wish I could go back and tell my teenager self that they aren’t here forever, and to cherish every moment that you have with them before it is too late. Go round and visit them, treat them to their lunch, go out day trips with them, just enjoy their company and make memories with them as the memories will most definitely last a lifetime and more.
Stop using Instagram so much!
One thing I for sure wish I could go back and tell myself is to stop using Instagram so much for all the wrong reasons! I would spend hours perfecting my feed, editing my bio and choosing the perfect profile picture to display the best parts of my life to just change it all over again the next week. In reality, nobody really cares about your hair sitting the wrong way, or your makeup looking a bit cakey, so there is no need to stress over it. If I could go back I would tell myself to just put the phone down and stop looking at all the Instagram perfect influencers, going on huge vacations and spending all their money on the newest Louis Vuitton tote bags. They only show the best parts and highlights of their life, and don’t forget that they all have bad days too, they just chose not to show it. I wish I could tell myself that that perfect figured blonde girl I was obsessing over have had endless amounts of surgery and photo editing to look like that, and that’s not a real representation of how they look in real life, so stop trying to look and replicate their life!
Take Lots Of Photos
This may be a weird one, as most people when looking back at their younger self would say put your phone away and enjoy being young, but for me personally I would say the opposite. When I look back at my gran and papas stack of photos and videos, they have thousands and thousands of photos of my mum when she was a child and growing up on old cameras and video recorders. I wish I could go back and tell myself as a teenager is take full advantage of having a phone and Ipad at a young age and thousands of photos, of your day, your outfit, your meals- you name it. This may sound super silly but I love looking back on my life now and remembering what I was like in my teen years. Don’t get me wrong I do have a good amount as I was the average selfie obsessed teenager, but I feel I could still have more.
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