1. Don't waste your time on 'love' - I know it's new and exciting, and sex is all anyone can talk about but don't. Just wait! Enjoy your time being young, and free and girly with your girlfriends. As much as love is the single most incredible emotional experience one can go on, wait for it until you're a little older. Do everything you want to do first! A holiday with the girls... go on it! That skiing trip with your parents... take it! While crushing/loving/kissing sounds terribly enjoyable, no one tells you about all the pain and heartache that comes with it. There will be sleepless nights, arguments that will distract you from revision, tears and hair-ripping-out moments galore. You'll have to make compromises and come to agreements to make your other half happy, and you'll ultimately miss out on living like the young, carefree teenager that you are!
2. If you have a talent, build on it - You once picked up a guitar and loved the sound? You enjoy singing in the shower and find that you don't think you're half bad? BUILD ON IT. Don't waste talent, and don't waste a passion. If you like taking photographs, and you're forever cutting out images from magazines and sticking them in journals, don't stop. Don't force yourself into believing you don't have time for those things anymore because you do. They'll make your life more interesting, more purposeful and opportunities will open for you at every corner if you carry on building your talents.
3. Don't grow apart from your family, grow closer - When you get older and you make friends, you'll want to spend less time with your family and more time with your friends. Don't ignore your family though! Don't miss relative's birthdays because of random house parties, and don't stop hanging out with your cousins because they're not as 'cool' as your mates. Family is very important, and while friends come and go, family is forever.
4. Make loads of friends! - Haha, even though I believe that family is more important, having lots of friends is also a MUST. It will help you in every aspect of your life. Whether you need a few hours of gossip to keep you sane during the revision season, or a friend's opinion on an outfit for Friday night, having good friends around you is definitely up there on my advice list. Not only are they good for when you're 16, but when you get older, your friends will turn into contacts - social networks of people, and this will help when it comes to applying for jobs, visiting countries, getting discounts in expensive shops and so on!
5. No, you're not going to look like this forever - So many 16 year olds are wound up in thoughts about appearances. You have NO idea how many times you're going to change your hairstyle in your lifetime. You may have had that side swept fringe for the last 6 months, but trust me, by the time you're 20 you'll have gone through 10 more hairstyles. Your fashion sense will change, your weight will change, your preferences will change! You'll see.
6. SAY NO TO ALCOHOL AND DRUGS - Don't start smoking. Try it, by all means, but don't start. It's not sexy, or cool and while it may get you some attention when you're this age, when you're older, people will be laughing at you and your family with be fearful for your health. I started smoking when I was 12 years old, and I wish I didn't. Alcohol can make nights fun and more exciting, but don't overdo it. Learn your limit quickly, everyone has different tolerances for alcohol and different types of alcohol at that. You don't want to get yourself a bad reputation because of something you did when you were wasted, or get photos taken of you doing something silly and then have them posted all over the internet. I enjoyed many a drunken night with my friends when I was 16, but I always made sure I was safe, had a fully charged phone with me, and money just in case I needed a taxi.
A few key rhymes to remember:
Beer before wine makes you feel fine;
Wine before beer makes you feel queer.
Beer before liquor makes you feel sicker;
Liquor before beer, never fear.
I once had a glass of red wine, followed by a pint of beer and threw up 10 minutes later. I was so drunk that I had to catch a black cab home, only to stop it half way there, throw up again, pay him double his fare and waddle home with still a mile to go.
7. You only have one Mother and one Father - Yes, they are going to piss you off. Yes, they'll stop you from wearing that, going to that party, seeing that boy but they are only doing that because they are so scared of losing someone so precious to them. And while it's there prerogative, let them. Trust me, you're not missing out on much when you miss a party. You'll look back when you're older and cringe on how lame those parties used to be. They just love you so much and they can't stand to see you get hurt.
8. SEX - If you're going to have sex, go on the pill, get the implant, get the coil, the injection, the condoms, I don't care... just at least use ONE of them. The last thing you want at 16 is a baby. You have SO much life to live before you have kids. Don't shorten the best years of your life, where all focus is on you, to take care of a baby. No matter how in love you are with your boyfriend, or how much you think you're ready and grown up, just don't. Live first!
Not just babies, but STDs as well. They are so rife among teenagers, and most people don't know they have them because some cause no symptoms whatsoever. Get yourself checked out at clinics regularly if you're sexually active and use condoms! CONDOMS, CONDOMS, CONDOMS. I don't care if he says he can't feel anything... USE ONE ANYWAY.
9. Take photos of everyone and everything - These are the best years of your life, so make sure you do everything you can so that you'll be able to remember them. Get dressed up and go shopping and take hundreds of photos with your friends. Go to the park on a sunny day and take photos by the water fountain, with a dripping ice lolly hanging out of your mouth. Just take as many as you can, and don't worry if you don't look 'pretty' in them, because when you're older, you'll look at them in a different way. They will become perfect memories.
10. Look after yourself - Don't live carelessly. Be careful when you cross the roads, don't walk off with strangers, don't meet people you met online alone. Keep your phone hidden from view when you're not using it, your bag closed and your wits about you. You have so much life to live; don't let it get cut short by living carelessly.
And there you have it, the advice I would've given to my 16 year old self. I hope this helps all the 16 year olds reading this, as I don't think much has changed in 4 years!
But just enjoy being young, you'll have forever to be old -x-
3. Don't grow apart from your family, grow closer - When you get older and you make friends, you'll want to spend less time with your family and more time with your friends. Don't ignore your family though! Don't miss relative's birthdays because of random house parties, and don't stop hanging out with your cousins because they're not as 'cool' as your mates. Family is very important, and while friends come and go, family is forever.
4. Make loads of friends! - Haha, even though I believe that family is more important, having lots of friends is also a MUST. It will help you in every aspect of your life. Whether you need a few hours of gossip to keep you sane during the revision season, or a friend's opinion on an outfit for Friday night, having good friends around you is definitely up there on my advice list. Not only are they good for when you're 16, but when you get older, your friends will turn into contacts - social networks of people, and this will help when it comes to applying for jobs, visiting countries, getting discounts in expensive shops and so on!
5. No, you're not going to look like this forever - So many 16 year olds are wound up in thoughts about appearances. You have NO idea how many times you're going to change your hairstyle in your lifetime. You may have had that side swept fringe for the last 6 months, but trust me, by the time you're 20 you'll have gone through 10 more hairstyles. Your fashion sense will change, your weight will change, your preferences will change! You'll see.
6. SAY NO TO ALCOHOL AND DRUGS - Don't start smoking. Try it, by all means, but don't start. It's not sexy, or cool and while it may get you some attention when you're this age, when you're older, people will be laughing at you and your family with be fearful for your health. I started smoking when I was 12 years old, and I wish I didn't. Alcohol can make nights fun and more exciting, but don't overdo it. Learn your limit quickly, everyone has different tolerances for alcohol and different types of alcohol at that. You don't want to get yourself a bad reputation because of something you did when you were wasted, or get photos taken of you doing something silly and then have them posted all over the internet. I enjoyed many a drunken night with my friends when I was 16, but I always made sure I was safe, had a fully charged phone with me, and money just in case I needed a taxi.
A few key rhymes to remember:
Beer before wine makes you feel fine;
Wine before beer makes you feel queer.
Beer before liquor makes you feel sicker;
Liquor before beer, never fear.
I once had a glass of red wine, followed by a pint of beer and threw up 10 minutes later. I was so drunk that I had to catch a black cab home, only to stop it half way there, throw up again, pay him double his fare and waddle home with still a mile to go.
7. You only have one Mother and one Father - Yes, they are going to piss you off. Yes, they'll stop you from wearing that, going to that party, seeing that boy but they are only doing that because they are so scared of losing someone so precious to them. And while it's there prerogative, let them. Trust me, you're not missing out on much when you miss a party. You'll look back when you're older and cringe on how lame those parties used to be. They just love you so much and they can't stand to see you get hurt.
8. SEX - If you're going to have sex, go on the pill, get the implant, get the coil, the injection, the condoms, I don't care... just at least use ONE of them. The last thing you want at 16 is a baby. You have SO much life to live before you have kids. Don't shorten the best years of your life, where all focus is on you, to take care of a baby. No matter how in love you are with your boyfriend, or how much you think you're ready and grown up, just don't. Live first!
Not just babies, but STDs as well. They are so rife among teenagers, and most people don't know they have them because some cause no symptoms whatsoever. Get yourself checked out at clinics regularly if you're sexually active and use condoms! CONDOMS, CONDOMS, CONDOMS. I don't care if he says he can't feel anything... USE ONE ANYWAY.
9. Take photos of everyone and everything - These are the best years of your life, so make sure you do everything you can so that you'll be able to remember them. Get dressed up and go shopping and take hundreds of photos with your friends. Go to the park on a sunny day and take photos by the water fountain, with a dripping ice lolly hanging out of your mouth. Just take as many as you can, and don't worry if you don't look 'pretty' in them, because when you're older, you'll look at them in a different way. They will become perfect memories.
10. Look after yourself - Don't live carelessly. Be careful when you cross the roads, don't walk off with strangers, don't meet people you met online alone. Keep your phone hidden from view when you're not using it, your bag closed and your wits about you. You have so much life to live; don't let it get cut short by living carelessly.
And there you have it, the advice I would've given to my 16 year old self. I hope this helps all the 16 year olds reading this, as I don't think much has changed in 4 years!
But just enjoy being young, you'll have forever to be old -x-
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