If you are reading this, I am officially 19 years old! It’s wild!
This article is set to be posted on Nov. 8 — my birthday. Goodbye 18 … I guess. As I write this, still being a lowly 18-year-old, all I can think about is how fast time flies. To be honest, I am valiantly fighting a mini-existential crisis.
I feel like growing up, most of us believed there would be a moment when we would have it “all figured out.” The older I get, the more I realize that there is no magic age when you stop “faking ’til making it.” I am definitely still holding out hope for a confidence boost as I age and learn, but I am learning to be okay with living in uncertainty.
I don’t like looking back or regretting anything, I believe that everything in my life has happened how it is supposed to. The hard things helped me grow. It’s a big leap of faith, I know, but I don’t think I would like to change anything.
Here are a couple of things I have learned growing up. You could call them tips for my younger self, or you could just call them life lessons. Hopefully, you can take a little something away from it.
- You are trying, I promise
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There were so many times I convinced myself that all I needed to fix a particular problem was to just try a little bit harder. In school assignments, performances, whatever, I could do better if I just put more in. I put in what I could, and that was hard to accept.
Sometimes you can’t fix something just by trying harder. Maybe that means you take a different route, or maybe that means you take a step back and accept your work. However, destroying yourself in hopes of fixing something isn’t trying anymore, putting effort in is enough.
Difficult things won’t “just go away,” regardless of how hard you try. I am sorry, but it’s life.
- anxiety is your anchor
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An anchor keeps you where you are, it can be helpful, but also weighs you down.
Yes, there are a few positives. Anxiety is what keeps your grades up and college applications done early. It helps make you who you are, but it hurts you. You know this already, but anxiety can be debilitating. It can spiral around you until you are stuck in a vortex of paralyzing unease.
Learn to use it when you can, but also accept that sometimes you just can’t. It is okay to have hard days.
- It is okay to take a step back
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Your value isn’t calculated upon what you can do for other people. If something is wearing you down and burning you out, it is okay to step away.
This doesn’t have to look like quitting!! Sometimes it looks like prioritizing your other commitments, or only committing yourself to what matters. Maybe you help at big events only, maybe you stay connected but disconnect. Sometimes you do have to fully leave because that is what is best for you.
Live your life for you and no one else.
I don’t know what the next year has for me, but I know it is a whole new chapter. Growing up is all about change and learning. Let’s take on the world.