Oh jeez where do I begin with this one? There are so many things I would tell my teenage self.
For starters I would tell my teenage self to get out of her head. I would tell her she’s not a freak. You’re not a loser. More people like you than you think.
You are an artist. You are creative. And yes, you are different. But in the best of ways. Embrace it.
You feel more deeply than others. That’s why you have trouble connecting with your peers. The people around you are not your people. Most of their connections with each other are probably surface level anyway and you need something deeper, more meaningful, authentic.
You won’t find that here. Not in your teenage years.
I would tell my teenage self, people aren’t thinking about you the way you’re thinking about you. In fact, they’re probably not thinking about you at all. People are too absorbed with their own lives to take the time to think about you, let alone judge you. Nobody is thinking about the way you said “here” when the teacher took attendance. Nobody is thinking about how you stumbled over the paragraph you had to read aloud. Your classmates are probably rehearsing the lines from their assigned paragraph in their head and aren’t even listening to the words coming out of your mouth. Nobody is paying attention to the way that you walk down the hallway or the way you turn to a fresh page in your notebook and the noise that comes with it in a quiet classroom. Nobody is paying attention to you. At least not that closely.
I would tell myself all the experiences you’re going through will play a bigger role down the road.
I would tell myself that everything is happening for a reason.
I would tell myself, this might suck now, but it gets better.
I would tell myself the foundation for the woman you’re going to be is being built.
And most of all, I would tell myself to stop being so desperate for people to like you. These are not your people. And you already know that. Stop caring so much about what you think they think of you.
A Life Full of Laughter 