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12 Things I Would Have Told Myself at 12

12 Things I Would Have Told Myself at 12

During the month of love, I love to do the following three things:

1) Spend time with my boo
2) Implement time for self-care
3) Spend time discovering new things about myself

When I was in the middle of a deep thought, I had a revelation about how different I am now than my twelve-year-old self. I am sure you feel the same. But, if we could travel back in time and spend time with your younger self, would you tell yourself? Let’s talk about it!

Opening Photo Provided by Of Mercer

#1 Stop Caring

People spend too much time caring about things that are not under their control. If I could travel back in time, I would take Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck with me to read and stop giving a f*ck about things that I have no control over.

#2 You Are Not Alone

At 12 years old, I remember feeling very alone and frustrated. I didn’t have a lot of friends, I was obsessed with getting the top grades and I needed to realize that most of the other kids in my school were probably struggling with the same or similar issues. As much as people are unique, we are also very similar to each other.

#3 Figure Out What You Like

Since I was around 6 or 7 years old, I “knew” that I wanted to be a veterinarian. Why? Because I loved the idea of playing with dogs and cats. Playing with animals isn’t the same thing as being a veterinarian. At 12 years old, I needed to make some calls to vet offices in Manhattan to see for myself what a veterinarian does. Figuring out who you are and who you want to be is a journey that you should start as soon as possible.

#4 Don’t Limit Yourself

Mary Kay Ash said it best when she said, “Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” At 12 years old, I needed to focus on what I wanted, not the “limitations”.

#5 Show People How You Want to be Treated

If you want to be treated with respect and dignity, are you making that clear to others in your life? At 12, I needed to stand up to my bullies and the unnecessarily rude classmates. Instead of feeling sad and upset, I needed to make it clear that I deserved to be treated with respect. No exceptions!

#6 Practice Your Craft

When I wasn’t studying for school, I was writing poetry, crafting stories, drawing, and playing the flute. Did I take my creative time as serious as my studies? No. This was a mistake. Your passions are important. If you want to learn how to draw better, then you owe it to yourself to learn how to do it. You might surprise yourself and end up in a career where you utilize your artistic talents over what you learned in US History. Don’t undervalue your creative abilities.

#7 You Are Responsible for Your Happiness

Growing up, I was disillusioned about happiness. I believed it was friends or family members that were supposed to make you happy. This is simply not true. Happiness is always an inside job. It isn’t an easy job but if you work on figuring out who you are and what makes you happy, it will make life that much easier to enjoy.

#8 Everything will Work Out

In addition to worrying about things you don’t you control, people like to do what? They worry whether things will work out. If you think about it, don’t most things work out? Situations might not always work out how you expect them to, but typically you get type of resolution each and every time. This is something I desperately needed to know. Life is too short to be worrying, it is better to get out there and live your life.

#9 Keep Learning

Later in life, I developed the motto: Learn something new and meet someone new every single day. This was something I should have implemented this so much sooner. Don’t agree?

#10 Say No

Saying No is BEYOND important. Here are things you should absolutely say no to:

  • Negative people
  • Toxic situations
  • Negative self-talk
  • Things you don’t want to do
  • People who make you feel bad

What are things you need to say no to?

#11 Trust Your Gut

Someone once said, “Deep down you already know the truth.” How would your childhood be improved if you trusted your gut much more?

#12 Have Fun

No matter how stressful or busy life is, it is important to make time to have fun. Watch a fun movie, spend an afternoon laughing. Take time to watch cat videos on YouTube. Do something fun and document the experience on social media. The point is to just have fun. Even if it is a couple of minutes a day, just do it. You will thank me over and over again!