12 Things I Would Tell My 17 Year-Old Self

1. Don’t let anyone make you feel embarrassed about loving Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You’ve found something that you’re passionate about and that’s amazing. Seven years later, the show is still a huge part of your life. The people who made fun of you are not.

2. Spend a little less money on clothes and a little more on music. Connections with songs and times and places and people last forever. Clothes don’t. Grow your music library and be proud of the fact that even at seventeen, you hate listening to the radio.

3. Stop shopping at Wal-Mart immediately. Drive the extra ten minutes and go to Target instead. It will make your life so much better.

4. There will be nights when you sit in your car blasting the saddest song you can think of while crying and thinking about how alone you feel. Teenage hormones are a bitch. Don’t worry though, these nights are actually good for you. Therapeutic, almost. (Teenage me is rolling her eyes.)

5. I realize you hate your job, but it’s going to be okay. You’ll come away with a few really good friendships that will make it worth it. Plus, being miserable here will open your eyes to how great your next job is.

6. That said, there’s no need to stick around for as long as you do. I know you’re a people pleaser and you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by quitting, but your mental health is so much more important than serving ungrateful customers barbeque.

7. Write more things down. As much as I want to remember myself at seventeen, there’s no record of those thoughts. Write down songs you’re loving, shows your watching, people you like, people you hate, what you do on the weekends. You’ll want to remember these things one day. And FYI, writing about stressful things (and to you, that means basically everything- sorry, that hasn’t changed) is an absolutely brilliant way to calm yourself down. It will feel weird at first, but just keep writing.

 

8. Most of the time your sister is going to seem unbearably different from you. This won’t change either, get used to the opposition.

9. Facebook only gets more frustrating in the future, so don’t waste too much energy on it. No one really cares about your page as much as you do, anyways.

10. Own your weirdness. So what if you and your best friend like to spend Friday nights doing 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzles? That’s awesome. You two will still enjoy doing this at twenty-three. Embrace it.

11. You’re an introvert. You might not know what this means yet, but it will explain a lot once you figure it out.

12. Don’t allow yourself to get so wrapped up in what could happen that you completely miss what does happen. Daydreaming is fun, but don’t allow it to interfere with actually living.