As turning 30 looms in front of me this year, I feel in a bit of a reflective mood. Almost 30 years on this earth and what can I say I have achieved or experienced in that time? I thought back to when I was young and naive at school and in my teens. If I could go back in time and talk to my younger self, what would I say?
Don't worry about what other people think. I spent the majority of my teenage years and even early twenties trying to "keep up with the Jones's". As I've grown older I just don't care about trying to look a certain way or wear a certain brand of makeup simply just to fit in. If people don't like me as a person, that's OK- I'd probably be better off without them anyway! Don't feel like you have to change who you are for anyone. The only person that will end up suffering is yourself.
Friends come and go. When you're at school, you get so caught up in a bubble of only socialising with people in your class or year group and you can't foresee anyone else outside of that. In some instances you can still keep childhood friendships (I have 2 close friends that I met at 4 years old in Infants School) but don't get too upset if you end up drifting apart from some people. With social medial being so prevalent these days, there really isn't an excuse for not keeping in touch. If a person has drifted away, then it probably wasn't meant to be anyway. This leads me on to the next point of toxic people and relationships. In school and later at college, I had a few of these but lacked the self-belief and courage to walk away so I stuck with them. A turning point came for me a few years later when I had finally had enough of being used and I called it a day. I felt hugely relieved and whole lot better for it. I firmly believe that it is much better to have a handful of what I would class as good friends, rather than a larger group of people you don't particularly like or trust. I know with the current friendships I've formed that they are built to last.
Do what makes YOU happy. You only have one shot at life and then it is gone forever. Depressing but true. Do you really want to spend your time not doing the things you really want to do for fear of potential ridicule? When I was younger (and still today) I loved jazz. My Dad is a big jazz lover and I grew up listening to musicians such as Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto. I never told people at school as I was worried that not liking the usual Pop/Rock/HipHop that was classed as "normal" I would be laughed at and thought of as weird. Looking back, I wish I had told people. In Secondary School they even had a jazz band and I wish I could have got involved but embarrassment held me back. I also love computer games which was even more of an embarrassing subject for me growing up. I was lead to believe that this was very much what boys did. My older sister had a games console when I was little and I have such fond memories of playing Mario and Duck Hunt on her 1985 NES. Today I still enjoy gaming and I'm lucky enough to have a Fiance that also loves computer games. Other things that make me happy are Arts and Crafts (I make my own cards, knit and sew), gardening and visiting gardens and garden centres (read more on this here) and I'm also a huge fan of Johanna Basford's colouring books.
What sort of things would you tell your younger self if you had the chance? I'd love to hear about them!
Comments
Post a Comment