A Letter to My 16 Year Old Self

I caught a few of you tweeting to your 16 year old self while I checked in here and there on vacation.  Then I saw Heather from alis grave nil take it and put it into letter form and I loved the idea, so I'm borrowing today.  I'm not the type to look back on high school with longing or even sadness, more as 4 years that just happened and were so far eclipsed by the awesomeness of college they don't really matter.  It feels so long ago and I'm nowhere near the person I was then.  Still, there are things I wished I had learned a bit earlier.

Dear me in 1997:

Hi you skinny bitch, I hope you're enjoying all the Fro-Yo you eat while "working" at Zehnder's.  Don't worry when you're 29 you'll still be able to put down a carton in one sitting, it will just go straight to your pooch and love handles, instead of burning off after taking 4 steps.  OH, and that pooch you think you have now is nothing, just like mom said.  She really is always right, btw (this means by the way, I forget when you started shortening phrases and using AIM).

However, I'm not here to harass you about your kick-ass body and how much you should appreciate it (although you should).  There's some more important lessons to be learned.

#1 Lighten up and don't be so shy with strangers or classmates you don't know that well.  You're good with the friends, but it's ok to let others get to see that side too.  Meeting new people will be like a high for you in a couple years.

#2 Your Father/abandonment issues will never really go away, but please don't let that stop you from trusting people and letting them in!  You may get hurt, but that's all a part of life (and cliches never stop being annoying, even when they're oh so true).  My current self should take this advice too.

#3 Dating is not that scary, well that's kind of a lie.  You will get your heart broken, but you would have been so much more equipped for the douchebags, had you learned how to handle them at a younger age.

#4 Adding to that, flirting is fun!  You'll get very good at it around the age of 19, but starting a little earlier never hurts.  Like with Shawn, your date to winter homecoming Junior year.  He's a hottie, if only you could meet him 3 years later.  Damn.

#5 Sex is not worth judging over.  Each person is ready at a different age and you're clearly not at 16.  But, BUT, you'll make your share of mistakes in this area, trust me.  (I wish I could tell you to stay away from Blake too, but that's a letter for you when you're a freshman in college).  Definitely keep holding out while you can, just don't be a prude! 

#6 Drinking is also not worth judging over.  See #5, only there will be pictures to prove it.  I do like your mentality that you can have just as much fun sober!  I hope our future children think like this in high school too!

#7 Jealousy doesn't look good on anyone.

#8 Choosing dance over soccer might have been the best decision, but get back out and play for fun at the very least.  It will help when you play college intramurals.  Don't stop dancing either.  Ever.  It's good for you.  Your happy dance will be legendary.

#9 Please, please, please learn to let things go.  Keeping the anger all bottled up inside and dealing with issues in a passive-aggressive manner is so annoying!  Stop it, right now.

#10 Friends change, you may grow apart and that's OK!  Also, your friends aren't perfect and the standards you set are pretty high.  They love you despite your faults, of which you have plenty, learn to do the same. Amazingly enough, you'll still be friends with a handful of these people after college, and the friendship has very little to do with the high school years.

Lastly, appreciate your family.  Mom is the best, we've never doubted this, and your bond will only grow.  Give the dad's a chance too.  This will be much easier to do when you're not living with one and visiting the other more often, but you could maybe lower the attitude level just a bit.  Your annoying little sweetheart of a brother turns out to be pretty awesome too, but will need you in about 8 years in a way you'd never even guess.  Another letter for another day.

For now, enjoy the sweets and high metabolism.  I kind of hate you a little for it.

~Your 29 year old self via Fall 2010