My teen years are long gone…..loooonnngggg gone!!! And I for one am very glad. It’s not that I had any one particularly scarring incidence, truth be told those were not the best years of my life…granted that I haven’t really lived enough to say that, I am certain that my teen years were definitely not the best of my life. So why go down memory lane? Because I find it’s sometimes the best way to learn…looking back at past events and breaking them down when you’re not in the moment is really helpful; at least that’s what I’ve found.

Given that I don’t really know who the demographic of my blog is, I trust that this post will be somewhat helpful and will provide a good trip down memory lane…
Let's get into it....

 It’s Not That Serious!!!! It never is!!!Oh my goodness, I can’t stress this enough. I don’t know why but when I was a teen everything I mean literally everything be it positive or negative (mostly negative though) was like the end of the world. I had no perspective, I couldn’t see the bigger picture; I completely lacked the ability to have a bird’s eye view of things. I guess that’s one of the reasons why I was grumpy… If I’d known this I would have definitely been a different person and done things quite differently (probably better if I'm being honest).   

People are gossiping, yes they really, about you and guess what? That never ends. It continues well into adulthood.

You’re all familiar with the saying “money talks….” Right? Well same applies for people and when I say people I mean everybody and their mama yessssssssss . Your parents talk about you with each other and their friends (both negatively and positively), your siblings talk about you, your relatives too, your friends, even your bffs (best friend for life) and boyfriend/girlfriend talks about you. They talk about you positively and negatively. I really hope this doesn’t come as a shock because I’m pretty sure you do the same exact thing but if it does…. I’m really sorry to burst your bubble and be the bearer of bad news but it’s the truth and the faster you come to terms with it the quicker you learn how to deal with it and the quicker you learn how to assign roles to the people in your life, the quicker you learn who to invest time in and who not to invest time in, the quicker you learn the value of having a small inner circle of people who genuinely care about and you genuinely care about.

Don’t buy into the YOLO myth… Please don’t as tempting as it is don’t…

The truth of the matter is that stupidity follows you if you allow it to… now before you get offended, read my explanation. Stupid/bad/negative choices have a way of following you even to adulthood and in some cases old age. I’m a prime example; when I was a teen, I made the choice to overeat and not take care of my body… this followed me into adulthood and till this day I am left undoing my past mistakes. Granted that I have made amazing progress at recovering from my stupidity in the past, it was also very unnecessary. I always wonder what I’d be investing my time in now if I hadn’t decided to pig-out and be a couch potato…. You also don’t have to make a mistake in order to learn, just look around you; see what people have done and learn from them….you really don’t need to stick your finger in an open flame to know that it’ll burn and hurt. Get what I mean? So being on trend and belonging to the in crowd shouldn’t dictate your existence and choices. I’m not preaching at you; I’m speaking from my own high school experience (an all girl’s high school….story for another day). It’s a complete waste of time. 

Be You!!!

The pressure to conform and be part of the crowd or aspire to be part of the cool kids group is intense!!! It’s something that most parents forget and overlook. But I get it I really do, in as much as my teen years are looooooonnnggggg gone, I still remember (vividly). Conforming to set standards by God knows who is such a waste of your teen years!!! Be you!!! Embrace you!!! Love you (flaws and all yeeessssss flaws and all). Just be you!!! It’ll save you time (the self-discovery years….a notion which I don’t subscribe to because life is journey of self-discovery amidst a sea of other things).

You Don’t have to be Rebellious or go through a Rebellious Phase

That’s another myth that you really don’t have to subscribe to. You don’t have to slam doors or grant or subscribe to any other teenage stereotype that the media sometimes sells. You don’t have to be misunderstood, moody, dark and forever angry… Life is kinda weird and you’re learning a bunch of stuff at an alarmingly fast speed then there’s stuff going on with your body and don’t even get me started with the relationships…. It’s life so just deal with it like everyone else… just think of how it’d be if your guardians were to subscribe to the same stereotype….chaos, mayhem and pandemonium are a few words that come to mind….. if you’re having a bad day you’re having a bad day… you don’t have to take it out on everyone…   

 Live life, Do as Much as you Can, Live Life

You’re only young once….. these are words that I used to hear a lot when I was a teenager and I used to roll my eyes every time I heard them not because I was being rude (well sometimes it was because I was being rude, actually most times I was being rude…unnecessarily rude). It used to frustrate me because I didn’t understand why grown folk felt the need to say it over and over again and sound like broken records…the reason behind the words is what’s important. Once you get to a certain age there are things you won’t be able to do. So don’t regret it… I recently experienced this when I saw a really great program that I wanted to be involved in I happily scrolled through the page and was itching to apply but I couldn’t why? Because I wasn’t 18… I was absolutely crashed… I’m sure there were similar programs when I was a teen but I guess I was just too busy being a couch potato… Recently I went to a mall and saw that they were doing a survey with a great prize but guess what? It  was teenagers only L You’re made to think that when you’re older you can do everything and anything so you spend your teen years wanting to be 21 or 25 or even 30 but you don’t realize that it’s quite the opposite….so rethink how you look at age. Don’t be blinded from what’s right in front of you while craving for what’s ahead. 

Know Your Maker!!!

As usual, I saved the best for last >.<!!! If you don’t remember anything else, please remember this. There’s no better time to start a relationship with God than when you’re a teen. There’s no better time to lay the foundation towards a great life than when you’re a teenager. He will see you through the storms and all the craziness that comes with being a teenager. All you need to do is: (1) focus on God (2) read, study &savour the word every day (3) pray every single day; talk to God. These are habits that’ll follow you well into adulthood and you definitely definitely definitely will not regret it. If you allow yourself to experience true unconditional love from God your life will never be the same. There’ll be tough times ahead; it’s not a guarantee to a problem free life…but what a ride it’ll be!!! I made that choice and I don’t regret it one bit in fact it’s the best choice I’ve made. The very best!!! 

Thank you if you made it till the end. I’d really like to hear from you so leave a comment below.Until next time ^.^