Daily writing prompt
What advice would you give to your teenage self?
View all responses

Edited for the right day.

#goodgrief

#thisshouldbefun

This is a prompt that just stopped me in my tracks.

I’m 52 so a lifetime of experiences is behind me already, but in those experiences, what would be most useful to teenage me? Lottery numbers come to mind, but that’s probably not what the prompt is about!

#duh

However, as I dug into this, three things came to mind. For context, I was so uncomfortable with myself that it hurt. I would rarely venture outside my comfort zone because it was just scary. I immersed myself in books, music, and the places where I could find kindred souls.

So, advice I’d give my teenage self:

  1. Try It, You Might Like It I spent a lot of time not trying things because why? My wife has forced me into SO many different situations outside of my comfort zone and bullied (not really) me into trying so many different foods and you know what? I found that my tastes have expanded because of this. Being an adult, I can look back and see many situations that I just avoided because I’m an introvert that may have turned out great. But I’ll never know. So teenage me, try some new things. You don’t need to bury yourself in books! 🙂
  2. Get More Involved I was heavily involved with music and band, but again, avoided things where I felt uncomfortable. I look at the musicals and plays our school did. I should have been involved with them and I’m not sure why I didn’t get into them. I sang solos in front of auditoriums full of people. I spoke in front of a gym full of people at our graduation. Why didn’t I get up and sing and act? I played football, ran track, and played basketball, but not for four years. Why not? What stopped me? That fear of failure and drawing attention to myself. It’s not like I had a full social calendar. So, teenage me, get more involved! There might be something that happens that you really enjoy! 🙂
  3. Failure Will Happen, Learn and Go Forward Going with the theme of the first two, I was deathly afraid of failing because that would draw attention to myself. Whether it was in a competition, a relationship, or a grade, I didn’t (and still don’t) share much about myself personally. I still struggle with this daily, but the fact that I’m writing this from a new school district with a 45% ELL population tells me that I can try hard things and fail! This has drawn A LOT of attention to why I’d leave a place where I was accepted as “Mr. J” or “J-Money” (silly seventh graders) and go to reinvent myself. Somedays, I question that myself, but I’m more accepting of the failures that happen. Plus, if I preach it in class, I have to live it daily. So, teenage me, failure will happen, learn and go forward. The rewards from your efforts could be great!

So, if I could go back with my Delorean to visit 14 year old me, those would be the three things I’d tell myself. I think those would encompass so much of what held me back, and to a certain extent, still does hold me back today.

And what about you? What’s one piece of advice you’d tell the teenage you? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

As always, if you’ve gotten this far, thank you! I appreciate that I have a voice on the Internets and that you spent time reading it! ❤