I'm literally writing this a month early because I just can't wait until the 4th of August to publish this (LOL). This is going to be on a more 'deeper' and more personal level purely because I have learnt so much over the years, a lot of which I have seen and experienced, have shaped me to be the person that I am today.
I'm going to cut the introduction short and literally just get on with it. Enjoy reading!
1. Be patient. You will have times where you feel as though life isn't going the way you want or you feel like giving up completely because you feel like you have no clue what you're doing with your life. Good things come to those who wait but even better things come to those who put in the hard work to achieve their goals. Something may not necessarily go the way you planned originally but that is alright! The universe works in mysterious ways and what the future holds is better than what has just gone.
2. Sort of following on from my last point, you have your entire life ahead of you. There are so many opportunities for you to grasp and so many places to see and so many people who will cross your path in the future. Don't stress about things you should not even be stressing over. You're 18, you're still young. You are not supposed to have life all mapped and figured out because it could change in a split second and the career you have chosen for yourself now, might not even be what you do in 5 or 10 years time because you find something that is incredibly better.
3. When troubles arise, don't stress or worry or panic like you always do. View them as opportunities for you to learn and grow. And when good things do happen, see them as blessings, but every now and again, stop and take a look at your surroundings and see what you have already been blessed with.
4. Do not ever grow up too quickly. You're only a child/teenager once. You have the rest of your life to be old and one day you will miss being young so take advantage of your younger years. Have some fun and be childish once in a while because it makes you feel as though everything is idyllic.
5. BLOOD RELATIONS DO NOT MEAN ANYTHING. Just because someone has been born into your family, does not mean you have to consider them family.
6. LISTEN TO YOUR GUT INSTINCT!! The amount of times you have had a good or bad feeling about something/someone/a situation and it has come true is crazy. If you are put in a situation where you definitely have a bad feeling about, more than likely, it will come true judging from past experiences. Remove yourself from that situation asap.
7. Keep your true friends close. Even if you end up going your separate ways or no longer attend the same college, keep in contact with them. When you meet up further down the line, it will be one huge crazy catch up session! I have a friend (she will know who she is when she's reading this) who I last met up with nearly 2 years ago and even though we don't speak every single day because we're busy with our own personal lives, we're still close and it's 4 years of friendship going strong!
8. No matter how old you are, crying in your mum's arms will always make you feel like a 5 year old (and that is perfectly alright). Along with this point, it is okay to cry. And in front of people too! Don't keep everything bottled up. I guarantee someone will listen and you will have a huge weight lifted off your chest. Show your vulnerability, it doesn't make you weak.
9. Education is important. But so is your mental health. When you find yourself skipping meals and staying up until 3am to do an assignment which has been giving you breakdown after breakdown, it's time to stop and give yourself a break and some time to relax.
10.In your childhood, you always thought that the fairer you are, the more beautiful you are considered to be. That literally means nothing now. Go out, run around in the sun for hours on end and get that golden brown tan! Embrace your skin tone and flex your complexion.
11. Do not ever be ashamed of your culture and your heritage and do not allow others to make you feel ashamed for keeping in touch with your heritage and culture. Never also lose touch with your culture. Don't be embarrassed to speak in your native tongue to your parents in front of other people like you used to. Be proud that you know another language or two. It's something you will be able to pass down to your kids and future generations to come.
12. No matter what you do or where you go in your life, your family and your close friends will always be there for you. They are some of (if not the most) important people in your life who you can truly truly trust, apart from yourself. They will pick you up when you're down and you can turn to them when you need them the most and you know they won't judge. After all, they're only a phone call/skype call/message away.
13. You have spent far too long being sad and feeling so shit and down about yourself. Forget every single person who ever made you feel bad about being yourself and bought your self-esteem+confidence down to literally nothing. You do not need that kind of negativity in your life and I am glad you now know that. You have spent years building up your confidence and self-esteem and they have seriously never been higher and you've never been more at peace with yourself and who you are as a person. Do not ever allow anyone ever to bring you down to the point you were at a few years ago.
14. Dream big and don't let anyone or anything stand in the way of you achieving your dreams. You are capable of so much more than you will ever know.
15. Everything happens for a reason.
16. Put down your phone once in a while and stop looking at life through a glass screen. Yes, taking photos and videos are great for making memories,but time is passing by too quickly so live in the moment rather than through a glass screen.
17. Know your worth and do not settle for anything less.
18. Live in the moment and don't be afraid of living. Create memories that you will look back on when you are much older. You will never be as young as you are now, ever again.
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I hope you enjoyed reading this post!
Love, Priti xo
