I am now 30 years old and as a teenager, I thought I was pretty smart and thought I knew it all. But I was so wrong. Of course, being a teenager means you can still make mistakes and you are still figuring everything out. There are several things I wished I knew as a teenager that would make my life a little bit easier. In case, you are a teenager and you are reading this, I also wrote this for you.
Things I wish I knew as a teenager
Mental health is important
When I was a teenager, I was into partying and having fun with my friends. I was definitely not a Rory Gilmore and schoolwork was not one of my priorities. I was also one of those kids, that did not think about mental health. When you are a teenage girl, you care about how you look. You don’t care about your mental health that much. But it is so important. I wished they would teach that too at schools. It maybe would have saved me a few years later, when I was in my early twenties when I was suddenly struggling with panic attacks and anxiety. Even my doctor always talked about psychical health and not mental health. So at that time, I had no idea what was wrong with me. Now I know that you should take care of your mental health too. Overthinking is not a good thing, it can really mess up your life.
Don’t give up if you like something
There were things I wanted to get/achieve, but if I did not get it in a week or so, I would give up. I thought if I would not get it in a few days, I had failed. But sometimes it takes longer to achieve something. We live in a society where we want to get things instantly. But that is not how life works. Patience is also important.
You can not make everyone happy
No matter what kind of choice you make, there will always be something who does not agree with what you are doing. There will also be someone who will be jealous and say you’re not good enough. That is why you should not try to please other people in life, you just have to make yourself happy. People come and go in your life. The person who will always be there for you is yourself. You are the only person who can make you happy. Also: buying new things can be fun sometimes, but it will not make you truly happy.
Find out what YOU want
When I was a teenager, I had to make a big decision. I had to decide what I wanted to be. First of all, I think it is pretty crazy that you have to know what you want to do for the rest of your life at such a young age. But when I had to make that decision, suddenly everyone around me had an opinion on what I should do. As a teenager, it is very easy to get brainwashed and do what other people tell you to do. But the thing is, doing something that someone else is telling you should do, will not make you happy. It will make you feel miserable. You have to take some time for yourself and find out what you like to do. What is making you happy? You have to follow your own path.
Growing older will not be easy, but shouldn’t worry about it.
As a teenager I thought, once I turned 20 everything will be okay. I would be studying and then getting a job, family and a house. I would know what I wanted every second of my day and I thought I would never doubt myself again. Well, that is not the truth. Getting older is still messy. Maybe you struggling different from the struggles you had as a teenager, but they will still be there. Life is filled with ups and downs. Don’t worry about it too much. Worrying about little things will not matter in a month. Everything will be all right eventually.
Enjoy the present moment
I was always looking forward to something when I was younger. I have to admit, I still do that. I was always looking forward to the weekend because I wanted to party all night long. And it is not bad to make plans. But you shouldn’t constantly wait for the weekend, the summer, your holiday or whatever you are looking forward to. Don’t forget the present moment, you will never get it back. Have fun right now!
Photo by Alexis Brown on Unsplash