Hi guys! Long time no see. I could credit my absence for April Fool’s Day, but that’s a bad excuse. Honestly, I’ve been having pretty bad writer’s block. I know, I know! There’s so many things to write about, but none of them had piqued my interest.
But, since it’s three months into the New Years, I figure I give you an update.
Now, most of my resolutions were academic based, and rightly so – I’m graduating in a year and universities are beginning to look at your final grades in Grade 11. They included things like getting higher final grades (in my sciences especially – I am not gifted in my sciences), figuring out what I wanted to do in university, etc. But I actually ended up changing my resolutions somewhere around February. My academic goals, while they definitely still existed, were no longer my biggest fear. I started focusing on figuring out what I wanted to do, and not what my parents or teachers expected me to do in university. They became more centric around my mundane desires like “go to 10 concerts” or “travel more often” followed by a list of cities or countries. I realize now that in my youth, while preparation for the future is important, finding happiness in your adolescence is just as important. I actually succeeded in some of my resolutions, such as “become more body positive” and something simple like “be more confident” (even though, as simple as it sounds, I can speak for the most of us when I say it is not). I started off the year worrying about how I looked, using my Instagram likes as a measurement to how pretty I was, and it was hard to slowly wean myself off that – something I’ve been trying to achieve for years. I no longer worry as much about my physical appearance (but I still do occasionally – we all do, don’t we?), and started using the motto “fake it ’til you make it” for everyday self confidence. I challenge myself, and you, if you’re shy, to become more confident. When you feel like shrinking, draw yourself up to your full height and walk as if the world was meant to watch you. When you feel like your voice will come out meek and small, make it loud and powerful (there is this TED talk that I highly encourage you watch), and when in doubt, just imagine a little Charlize Theron sitting on your shoulder, offering you her words for a successful power walk:
This was a pretty cheesy post, I have to admit, but I think it’s important teenagers don’t try and tear themselves apart to ensure other people’s happiness, because when you tear yourself apart for other people somewhere along the way you end up losing yourself.
That’s my little heart to heart ramble for the week.
