“Don’t regret anything you do, ’cause in the end it makes you who you are.”
1. Wearing your heart on your sleeve. You cried until your little heart could cry no more. You showed him every side of you, and it still wasn’t enough. You may feel humiliated, but don’t. When we completely express who we really are at the core, we learn the most about yourselves.
2. Dating weird men. Or boring men. Or men who don’t have cars or jobs. Or all of the above. Who cares? Finding prince charming is a process. The most efficient way to find “the one” is to maneuver through all the not-the-ones. It takes time.
3. Dating guys because they’re downright sexy. He wasn’t everything you dreamt of, was he? Oh well, at least you know you’re fine enough to pick up something so beautiful.
4. Getting too crazy, way too soon. You sent that “What are we?” text barely 2 weeks into talking to him. You yelled at him for hanging out with his friends instead of you, when he just. met. you. You told him how his attitude is hurting you, and he hits you with the “Relax, bro, it’s not that deep.” Pretty embarrassing, but we’ve all been there. The important thing is that you learned something about yourself or relationships within that crazy month, which made it anything but a waste of time.
5. Venting on Twitter. So you were mad and told everyone in Twitterland that your boyfriend slept with another girl, or that the guy no one even knew you were dating totally got to your heart. You presented yourself as weak. So what? Just because there are people who get on Twitter or Facebook and talk about nothing thought-provoking or never speak their minds doesn’t mean they aren’t ashamed of something. We all are. You’re just woman enough to express it. Besides, you spent days feeling embarrassed about it, and they were over it the minute it left their timelines. Breathe.
6. Spending too much money on a party. Do you know what you would’ve done with the $20 you dished out to spend one measly hour at that I-could’ve-stayed-home-for-this party? Probably something else completely not worth it. So don’t sweat it.
7. Spending too much money on clothes. The truth is, none of the things we wear in college will we want to wear when we leave college. But you know what, it doesn’t matter. We look cute in it now.
8. Being jealous of your single friends. She’s so independent, her grades are always on point, she’s never in her room crying over a misinterpreted text message. She’s partying it up, accomplishing life goals, doing college the way it’s supposed to be done. But trust me, she’s lonely on a Tuesday night and would much rather cuddle and watch movies every once in awhile than go out. We’ve all got something.
9. Being jealous of your taken friends. So she never has time to hang out. She and her boyfriend post the cutest pics on Instagram and her tweets always say “OMG he’s the best boyfriend EVER *couple emoji* *heart emoji*” and sometimes you wish you could feel what she feels. But you have all the time in the world to feel that way. Focus on yourself.
10. Feeling obligated to like your friend’s boyfriend. If he’s a jerk, he’s a jerk. You don’t have to pretend he’s the best guy in the world if he isn’t. Respect their relationship, but don’t lie to her. Your friend needs to know that you’re there for her first, not for them. If he’s acting up, let it be known. You’ll only regret supporting a crappy relationship later.
11. “Trying something new.” Whether it was getting a pointless tattoo or chopping off all your hair, it was something you began to regret shortly after your decision. However, if it was exactly what you wanted at the time, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Own it, girlfriend.
12. Making the same mistake twice. So you said you’d never date a guy who doesn’t want a relationship ever again, but then you did. You thought, “Maybe it’ll be different this time.” Well guess what, go figure, it wasn’t. But don’t beat yourself up over it. At least now you know that it’s for sure a situation you don’t want to be in, whereas before you clearly weren’t so sure, or else you wouldn’t have done it again.
13. Being a passive-agressive roommate. That message you put on the refrigerator? Eh, you probably would’ve been better off coming to her face-to-face. Notes can be taken the wrong way, and confrontation is a valuable life lesson. Good thing is, now you know that communication is ineffective through a sticky note.
14. Not making the first move. That super cute guy at the bar that you were impatiently waiting to come talk to you? Yeah, you should’ve went after him. You spent the rest of the night mad at yourself for not just having the balls to take a chance. That could’ve been the love of your life. But what can you do about it now? Just don’t be so chicken next time.
15. Giving out your cell phone number. You wanted him to go away, so you shut him up with your digits. Mistake number 1. Then you entertained him with a few texts, until he started blowing up your phone for 2 or 3 weeks. Mistake number 2. Hey, if you weren’t interested, you should’ve just said so. Now ya know.
16. Trying to make too many friends. In reality, the more friends you have, the more people you have in your business. The only thing more screwed than being popular in high school is being popular in college. It isn’t worth it, and it’s a pretty stupid caliber. But you never meet a stranger, so that’s good.
17. Going out instead of studying. You really should’ve studied for that test, girl. That party was not to-fail-for.
18. Studying instead of going out. You really should’ve went out that night. Because, let’s face it, you knew you had it in the bag before 9 pm.
19. Leading a guy on for the sake of not wanting to be lonely. You hung out with him so many times to the point where you actually wanted to be alone again. You kept thinking, “Maybe I’ll end up liking him,” but clearly that never happened. No worries, it taught you that sleeping alone is a lot more fun than sleeping with a guy who hogs the bed and snores all night.
20. Trying to figure everything out. You’re young. This is the time where your mistakes are accepted! You’re at that age where you can be mature when you need to, yet immature when you want to. The decision is on you. But stop worrying about figuring everything out; it won’t happen, and you’ll just be wasting away your twenties. Live.
21. Not being crazy enough. You didn’t do anything completely insane because you were too afraid of what others would think of you. So what? When they look back on their people-pleasing lives, they’ll wish they were more like you. Do crazy sh*t. Make crazy decisions. Live a crazy life, you crazy girl.