What Would You Say to Your Younger Self?
Recently someone posed me a little question - if you could give some advice to your younger self, what would it be? It's something that I've been considering ever since I wrote a little post last year about the beauty advice that I would give to my younger self. If we could all go back and give some little nuggets of wisdom to ease the process of growing up, what would we tell ourselves? Now, as we all know, hindsight is a beautiful thing, but it's not a tangible thing. As much as it would be lovely to leap into a time machine and skip on back to guide our little 13 year old selves on the cusp of teenage hood, it's just not possible. But as always, the writer in me prevailed and I decided to write somewhat of an open letter. An open letter to mini me...
'To mini me,
Now, I realise that right now, the grand old age of 20-something seems like a far off prospect. A realm of the grown-up that you'll be wishing away your life to get to. First of all, it's not that far in the future, not even remotely. Be patient, you'll get there, and you'll love it. I also know that right now you like to think that you know everything there is to know about everything. Again, you don't, not even remotely. Which is where this little letter comes in. Teenage life is hard. It's also amazing, but it's what you make of it, and from someone who has been there, done that and (quite often) got the t-shirt, here's some little nuggets of wisdom to help you through the next few years...
Boys are not the be all and end all. Your teenage years will be spent fretting over every syllable uttered to you by any male of the species, even if just in passing. That's all a part of growing up, but don't let it take over your life. There is plenty of time for boys. Your teenage years shouldn't be spent trying to find the love of your life, it should be spent dallying around with the loves for right now, if they should even come along. If not, no biggie. Contrary to popular belief, those boys you're fretting over? They're just as panicked as you are about all this love business. One day you'll have your heart broken and it'll feel like the end of the world, it's not. One day someone will come along that thinks you are utterly perfect in their eyes and when that day comes you'll realise that heartache makes you appreciate that person even more. There's no rush, when it happens, it happens and when it does, it's lovely.
Hard work does and will pay off. Embrace the inner geek. It's ok to be driven, you might not believe it but it's one of your best attributes. You care about what you do, even if you don't want to admit it. Similarly though, try not to be so hard on yourself all the time, it's a trait that will follow you into later life and although it will pay off, it's exhausting at times. You win some, you lose some, always know that and don't beat yourself up when things don't go to plan. Right now it will feel like you're the only person on the planet chained to your books when everyone else is out having fun. Make time for fun, always,it's important, but so is getting where you want to be and that takes work, find a balance, even if that seems hard sometimes.
Family is the most important thing in your life. Sometimes they nag, sometimes you feel like they don't understand you and you won't always agree with the decisions that they make, but treasure them. Things will happen that will change everything about your life and you'll have to grow up super fast in a super short space of time, without people that you've always depended on. You'll think you can't get through it. Good news? You're about a million times stronger than you give yourself credit for and that is in part due to having the best support system you can have - am amazing family.
Not everyone you meet in life is going to like you. It's a harsh truth, but a truth none the less. Some people in this world simply don't gel together, just like you don't like some people, some people will feel exactly the same about you. Does that matter? Not in the slightest. Opinions can change in an instant and you'll do any say silly impulsive things (we all do at some point in our lives) and even the people you counted as friends will disappear just as quickly as they appeared. You know those people that have stuck by you through everything, those ones you crab fished with on the Quay, sat next to on the benches at primary school or messed around with at the back of A-Level history? They're the ones that matter. They're a pack of weirdos, but they're your weirdos, and together, you'll get through almost anything. Keep them close, they're truly incredible.
Fashion mistakes will happen. Embrace them... They'll make for some hilarious moments later in life when you stumble across old photos and reminisce for hours on your bedroom floor. There will be times when you do crazy things. You'll try out being blonde for a while and experiment a little too enthusiastically with make up. Scrunchies will go out and (unfortunately) come back in. Skinny jeans will reign supreme and you'll find your Britney Spears sketchers (thankfully) demoted to the depths of a charity bag, never to be seen again. You'll find yourself eventually. Until then? Wear what you love and try new things, that's half the fun.
Finally? Don't regret anything. Everything you do in life happens for a reason. We all make mistakes and absolutely nobody (despite how it might appear on their Facebook profile or Bebo or Myspace or whatever it is back then) is perfect. That girl with the perfect skin you'll find to just be pretty nifty with a make up brush and the girl with the perfect hair probably has as many body hang ups as you do. They aren't perfect, neither are you. Make mistakes, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get on with things. It's what you're good at and it will serve you amazingly well.
Love,
(Slightly) older, (hopefully) wiser,
You xxx'
So on that note, ask yourself, if you could give your younger self any little bits of advice, what would they be? Got an idea? If you're of the blogging persuasion, or like to have a bit of a Youtube based natter, have a go. Legal & General are interested to hear what advice the nation would give their younger selves and if you share your own little nuggets of wisdom with them you'll be in with the chance to win an iPad mini...not too shabby hey? Pop on over to their page, here, for more information about their campaign.
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