To my 16-year-old self:

What would you say to your 16 year old self?

This was a topic on somebody's blog that I was just reading and I really wanted to share my thoughts. I would like to tell myself the following things... but as a 16-year-old, I think I'd only listen if I knew they were coming from my 26-year-old self, not somebody else. So, from my 26-year-old self to my 16-year-old self:

-you will live past 18, despite that weird irrational fear you have

-you will find great love, and it won't even take that long

-if the guy isn't making any moves, he's not into you and never will be, stop being so obsessive and analytical

-fooling around does not equal interest on his behalf, in fact in generally means he doesn't give a shit about you

-actually read Huck Finn and do that Macbeth paper (it's not worth the zero)

-that girl you're afraid of... she's going to stay in town for the rest of her life and go absolutely nowhere, don't let her intimidate you one bit, she is nothing

-be nicer, just because people are assholes to you, doesn't mean you should be an asshole, too, it's not really your nature

-tweeze your eyebrows, frau

-tell somebody about what happened, it feels better to talk about it and not carry it around alone

-stick with softball, the coach may be a dreadful jackass, but you'll regret it later when you try to play and have no more confidence in your abilities

-move in with your dad now, before things get really bad at your mom's

-find a way to keep playing the flute after high school, you will miss it terribly in the following years

-find a way to keep speaking French after high school, you will miss it terribly in the following years

-go to Europe with Joe, it would have been worth being broke

-don't go to college right away, it will ruin you financially for longer than it's worth, and you won't decide what you want to do until several years in

-all of your friends are having sex with each other and doing lots of drugs, you are better off doing what you're doing - being fat and lonely and working on yourself rather than trying to fit in, you will like yourself much better when you're 26 for that

-it gets better, you are right to want to get out of town as soon as possible, you will never regret it and will appreciate it so much more when you're living somewhere else

-stop spending your money on crap and clothes that you won't use or wear for very long, you're better off with the money than all that junk

-tv doesn't love you back, get outside

-don't stop skiing, you really do love it

-you are already awesome and more unique than most teenagers because you do what you want, not what you think you're supposed to be doing. french rocks, band rocks, spelling and grammar will always be important to you, reading rocks, you will never enjoy partying but please dance as often as you can, and like i said, you will find GREAT love, so be patient and don't be afraid to make the first move, he's too sweet to do it himself. :)