sixteen things to learn whilst leaving your sixteen-year-old skin behind :

1. doing begets being begets having. having begets being, too. being begets doing as well. the point is to do and be and be grateful for what you have. life will be complete when you have something to do, the will to do it, a person to love, the conscious to love them, and having something to look forward to, even if it is just buying yourself flowers or reading a new paragraph of the book you just bought.

2. cleaning up after someone's messes does nothing but prove the love you have for them. clean up your cat's litter and tidy up the family living room without expecting or worrying about anything. same goes for your own messes.

3. life will stop working out the moment you do. submit to the 220 magazines you made a list of. write horrible poetry and edit it again and again. suck it up and send it to the editors. study with all you have. revise with making notes. do questions and practice problems. learn new things and be proud of yourself.

4. one of the most important things in life in to be fully present in all that you are doing. half of the problems will wash away if we fully immerse ourselves in what we are doing and completing it till the end. wasting away our time and energy in something we were pretending to do and not finishing the task at hand is utterly pointless.

5. but it's also okay if you can't do sometimes. on some days, you are just ashes and smoke from a phoenix who burned too bright. it's okay not to hard work yourself. it's okay if the best you can do is everyone else's bare minimum. they have those days too.

6. people will come and go. sometimes you'll be the one who waves first. it's okay. you have generations to live through and there will be a million more. just when you have them, cherish them the best you can.

7. there will be days when you'll look like a hobo and other days when you'll look like a disney princess. both of them have their time to come. it's all about priorities. if looking good is not a priority, you don't have to do it for the sake of self validation. you're still beautiful.

8. sometimes you just have to keep going and pray that there will come a time where you'll be glad you didn't leave. that is hope. it saves lives.

9. you'll do great things. i promise. but you'll have to keep believing. once you stop believing in yourself it's game over. you'll do this no matter whatever pace you're doing this at.

10. take out what you're baking after the prescribed time. even if it's still soft. they always harden later. and when mixing the chocolate and the batter, always add the chocolate to the batter slowly instead of the other way round. it helps with the consistency.

11. always, always record your life. write. journal. you'll be surprised how mature you were when you're older. there are always some things that your thirteen year old self knows that your sixteen year old self has forgotten.

12. when complimented, say thank you. when you decline, you're not only putting yourself down and giving yourself negative affirmations, you're also disrespecting and invalidating the thoughts of a person who cared about you enough to tell you.

13. you are a good person. you are good at things. you have a good life worth being grateful for. you will have a good life worth working for. you have a good heart. you have a good soul. you are inherently good. never doubt that.

14. don't give advice. listen to them. ask. let them speak until they discover their own gut instinct. they'll thank you for their own clarity and claim you always have the right things to say.

15. if you have an opportunity to make someone's day better, always do it. when you genuinely care for humanity, it shows bright and clear.

16. choose yourself, over and over again. choose love, no matter how many times it leaves. choose music because it will make you feel safe. choose new beginnings, choose new friends, choose to leave your ego at the front door when you fall. if there's one thing human beings appreciate, it is the act of sticking with them. Stick with people, kid. and always, always, stick with yourself, whether you're twelve or seventeen.

---

so i turned seventeen! yay!