For a girl...

Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and give myself some advice. Just to tell myself things that I know now. Things that would have made things WAY easier....

1. The cool kids aren't really cooler than you. They're just more confident. They have bad things in their life, too. Their parents are divorced, they have doubts about themselves. Some of them are bad at math just like you are. Just keep your head down, focus on getting good grades and being a good friend to the people who don't care if you're not popular. 
2. You don't need all the boys to think you're pretty. You just need ONE boy to think you're BEAUTIFUL. 
3. Some girls will get boobs WAY sooner than you, and you'll be mortified when it's time to change for gym. Quit worrying about it and develop confidence. The boobs will come later on their own. 
4. Don't let people tell you you're bad at math. If you think you're bad at it, it'll be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
5. Enjoy eating whatever the heck you want while you're a teenager. Go to the store immediately and get a McCain Deep & Delicious cake and eat the whole thing with two big frosty glasses of milk. You're welcome. 
6. Keep running track & field through high school. There will be a day when you wish you hadn't stopped running. 
7. If you're not happy being single, you'll never be happy in a relationship. Get your own life first, then share it. I really wish I'd known this earlier. I think I finally figured this out a few months before I met Kevin. I think I felt like at my age, I was supposed to be headed toward getting married, so I compromised and ignored the nagging feeling that I was in the wrong relationship. Once I ended that one, and got my own life, my own interests, started going out into the world and making new friends and having new experiences, I really was happy with just me. Shortly after that, I met Kevin, and the rest is history. 
8. It will all be okay. I recall freaking out about something or another every week through adolescence. I don't remember what any of the actual things were that I was freaking out about. Moral of the story: most of what you're freaking out about won't matter in a week, let alone 10 years. 

So what advice do you wish you could give your younger self? Leave me a comment below - I'd love to know!