Friday, July 26, 2013

Things I Would Tell My 17 Year Old Self

Hind sight being 20/20 and all, there are many little pearls of wisdom I wish my older self could have imparted on my graduating from high school self. Experience is one of the better teachers out there, so I am not going to go as far as to say I regret anything. I have a pretty sweet life and there is that whole "butterfly effect" where one little difference could have completely changed the course of my life. That being said, there are some things that people probably tried to tell me but my stubborn, know-it-all personality obviously didn't heed all warnings. So, what would I tell myself?

1) Don't get fat. Keep working out and watch what you eat. Don't be super crazy about it, but all those extra pounds will be a lot more work to get off than just maintaining. While you are at it, take better care of your health in general. Sleep in important as is mental health. Take a break when you need to.

2) College is actually more about the classes and education than the parties. And you may be smart and not have had to work that hard for good grades in the past, but homework and studying are a whole new ballgame in college.

3) Don't get into debt. Especially don't go into debt doing stupid things like eating out and paying for it with the super cool credit card you signed up for on the quad. It will take lots of hard work and sacrifice to dig out and you might as well sacrifice now so you don't have to later.

4) Travel!!! There are so many amazing places in the world and if you think you will travel later you are probably wrong. Before you know it you will have kids and mortgages and responsibilities that make it a little harder. When senior year in college your advisor tells you she thinks you would enjoy the Peace Corp, actually consider it.

5) Be yourself. Don't worry about what other people think about you.

6) Maintain the friendships that are important. And understand that some people only come into your life for a season and that is okay. And recognize that some people have an agenda and you can't change that.

7) There are so many amazing things in store for you. Marriage and children and moving across the country. Leaps of faith and dreams. And they are so worth it!

What would you tell your younger self?

2 comments:

Because of Jackie said...

Ooooh, good question! I may have to use this in a bog post sometime (with credit to you, of course!) I would tell myself to have a little bit more self respect, work a little harder in school and be more open and less shy. I wish I felt like I do in my 30's when I was 17...but I guess that is pretty normal, right?

Kelly said...

OMG!! A real blogger stopped by! Thanks for stopping by! Self respect...that's a good one. But I think it is normal to kind of come into yourself once you get older, because face it, once you have kids and stuff, you realize what's important.