This was me on my 15th birthday, and to be honest this isn't anywhere near as embarrassing as some of the other pictures I found whilst trawling through the depths of my Facebook page. Why am I wearing a strange headband? Who knows. All I remember is that it was my 15th birthday, and after school all my friends and I went to Costa, then on to the cinema to watch whatever was on at the time. (But can we please talk about how long my hair is? I miss having long hair..)
Recently I've been thinking, what advice would I give to my 15 year old self, knowing everything that I know now. She looks pretty happy, but the girl in the above picture is far from having her life together. Like most teenagers nowadays, she was rushing to grow up, and keep up with all her friends and everyone around her. That's pretty rubbish really. But a lot has changed in the last 5 years of my life, and I feel as if I'm in a better position to advise silly little 15 year old me. So if I had the chance, what would I say?
- You have all the time in the world to get into relationships, just enjoy being young without trying to have all that 'grown-up' drama.
- Your size doesn't define you. Size 10 is definitely not fat, and there will be a point when you'll be larger than a size 10, so don't try to diet. Your weight will fluctuate throughout your life.
- Pay attention in school, because you won't get the opportunity to learn all of this again, and in the grand scheme of things, GCSE's are much more straightforward than doing a degree.
- On that note, don't stress out over exams, there's only so much you can do, and a bad GCSE in Geography won't determine the rest of your life.
- Make the most of getting away with being innocent, once you leave school it's all downhill from there on, and people will always assume the worst.
- Remember those who used to be little shits in class, because in years to come you'll see them in the court summons in the paper.
- Lay off the energy drinks. Red Bull doesn't give you wings, it gives you a weird heartbeat and the need to piss every 5 minutes.
- The odds that you and your friends will be 'Best Friends Forever' are ridiculously slim. Everyone has different paths in life, and often it means being apart from friends. It's okay, you'll make new wonderful friends along the way.
- Don't panic because you haven't got your life figured out, because in 5 years time you still won't, and everything will be okay.
- Go to every party and make stupid mistakes, because how else are you going to discover what's right, what's wrong, meet new people and just have fun. There's so many responsibilities that come with age, so be a bit reckless while you can.
- If you enjoy it, do it! And don't answer to anyone. Sure people think it's pointless doing a GCSE in dance, but one day you'll be doing a degree in American Studies, and people will think it's even more pointless. Screw what they think. Do it for you.
- Money will come and go, so while you've got no major responsibilities, enjoy spending your money on the things you want, even if that is a whole load of tacky jewellery from Claire's Accessories.
- Dye your hair blonde. It will look so much better than your natural colour. Just don't dye it dark brown in Sixth Form, because it will go wrong and you will look like a Malteser (Brown on the outside, blonde on the underside).
- Enjoy spending time with your family, because soon your family will split and spending time together will be impossible.
- Take as many opportunities as you can. Who says you can't go on the New York trip? You can save up for it all by yourself and prove to everyone you deserve to go. If you really want to do something you can make it happen. There are no limits.
It's a bit of a paradox, I wouldn't be in a position to say all these things had I not lived my life exactly as I have in the last few years. Sure I've gone through some bad things in life, who hasn't, but the last 5 years have been pretty exciting as well. I've achieved so much more than I thought possible when I was 15, and I hope 15 year old me would look at me now and be proud.
Much love ♥
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