Deep 4: Live Deep or Die Shallow

Continuing on our little saga....




4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.

• Don't be so serious. Have a little fun. It's okay to act stupid and be silly. 

• Use moisturizer every day!

• Be more confident. If you like a boy, just tell him! The worst thing that could happen is that he doesn't like you back. Big deal. It's his loss, girl! 

• Stay in chorus. Ms. Brasfield can be annoying, but you actually have a talent. And if you stick it out, who knows how far you could go?

• You know all that stuff the orthodontist told you? About using the super-floss and brushing after every single time you eat? He knows what he's talking about. Just do it. Also, the retainer thing WORKS. Wear it exactly like you're supposed to. Otherwise, your teeth will start to lose their position that you worked so hard for, and you will be 30 years old wondering if getting braces again is a good idea.

• Don't hold so many grudges. You're going to grow up to be a totally different person than you are right now. So don't hold your friends to such high standards. They will change, too. It's the natural order of things.

• Be kind. Yes, your friends seem to enjoy your sarcastic snarkiness, but it only makes you look like a jackass later on down the line. You hurt a lot of people's feelings in an attempt to preserve your own. And that's just not the right way to go about it.

• Save your money. Magazines, sunglasses, and cassette tapes are awesome, but what's even more awesome is being able to buy exactly the kind of stuff you want when you go off to college. If you save your money, you can be a little more relaxed as a college freshman instead of working all the time and feeling like you never get a break.

• Take a year or two off before beginning college. You need a break to be a semi-adult and figure out what's the most important to you before you start paying tuition on classes that will ultimately NOT be what you want to do with your life.

• Don't chase "love" (or your childish notion of it) so hard. When the right person comes along, things will fall so naturally into place that you won't even know what hit you. You don't HAVE to have a boyfriend to be "normal". Love YOURSELF, and other people will be drawn to that. You're worth more than the lonely broken heart you lug around all the time.