July 1, 2011

Dear 16 year old Me...

I saw this video a few months ago after it was posted on blogs and by friends on facebook...



Because I tend to have a bit of a hypochondriac streak, of course I immediately began worrying about that awful sunburn I got when I was 17 and all of those times I forget to reapply sunburn, and of course I started wondering if my spf 30 is really enough and maybe I should go put some on right now even though I'm indoors blah blah blah *insert insane thought here.*  ANYWAYS, aside from the important message, I thought the concept behind this video was beautiful.  I have written letters to my FUTURE self many times, and enjoyed reading them in the "future."  But to give advice to my 16 year old self?  Oh where to even begin...

Dear 16 year old Me,

Listen carefully to what I'm about to tell you...
Be patient with your parents.  You may be right that they don't understand you, but they're trying.

Stay away from the scale.  No seriously.  It seems harmless, but it will do more damage to you than you can understand right now.
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Stop telling yourself that you're not athletic.  Go for a run.  Walking does not mean you're a running failure.

Come to think of it, quit being afraid to do things just because you might fail at them.  Not trying at all is the bigger failure.

Stop bleaching your hair.  You will spend the next 5 years trying to repair the damage.

You deserve to be happy.   
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It's okay to make mistakes.  Embrace it, learn from it, and move on.

No one cares what your high school GPA was.  No one really cares what your college GPA was either.  Put down the books once in awhile and have some fun!
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Repeat after me: "I am smart.  I am beautiful.  I am strong."  Say these words over and over again, every day.
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What advice would you give your 16 year old self?

5 comments:

  1. this is such a great post idea! I think I would definitely tell myself to understand and listen more to my parents. They really did always just have my best interests in mind :)

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  2. Love this! I would have so much to tell myself and don't even know where to begin. I was a mess when I was 16 years old.

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  3. I love this post! There are so many things I would tell myself, but the biggest is probably that it's never as bad as I think it is. Life always gets better, each situation isn't the end of the world. I was a pretty dramatic teenage girl!
    :)

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  4. I think the first thing I would tell myself is to not care so much about what other people think. Just because I wasn't the most popular (or popular at all) does not mean my life won't end up being fulfilling and great. People usually are always more worried about themselves than they are you...I still need to remind myself this!

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  5. I think I would tell myself not to worry so much about impressing boys and getting a boyfriend. It wasn't until later that I got more confident in myself and didn't need validation from others.

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