15 Things I Would Tell the 15 Year Old Me

Right I know this is corny and everything but lately everywhere I go I find articles/blogs etc saying 'What I Would Tell My Younger Self'. So I am jumping on the bandwagon. These are the 15 things I would tell my 15 year old self:

1. You are not, by any stretch of the imagination, fat or ugly!
2. If you want something to be different, then do something about it. Sitting there in silence hoping someone else has the guts to speak up and they want the exact same thing as you is never going to work.
3. Yes it sucked that you were in a car crash. Yes that drunk driver should have gone to jail but somehow didn't even make it to court and it was unfair. Yes you will be plagued with back problems for at least the next 5 years. BUT - the fact that you were in that crash has made you a safer driver. It has made you more aware of the dangers of the road. Life is unfair sometimes. Your back pain will let you know when you are stressed/have been sitting at your computer for too long and allow you to take action against that. It will also give you the excuse to get massages and not feel guilty. 
4. Just because you have a boyfriend now and you are 'so in love with him!' does not mean that you will marry him. Your life does not need to be so mapped out and at 15 what do you know about love anyway? He will dump you, over the phone, on a Monday morning, right before your TEE exams. You will blame him - try not to. He tried to do the right thing, because your relationship wasn't right anymore, he just did it the wrong way. And don't be so desperate and needy by calling him at all hours begging him to take you back. That ain't right. 
5. When your dad tells you to go outside and 'do something', do it. Just because you feel like sitting inside reading doesn't make it the best thing for you. You will probably read that books 6 more times a least - you don't need to finish it today. 
6. Drink more water
7. The people in your class who are mean to you? They will do nothing with their lives. Just because they are the 'cool kids' now, has no bearing the second you step outside the school gates for the last time. You have the courage and the opportunity to leave town, to go to the best school in the State, to go to university, to leave the comfort of the known. They don't. It's sad really, because you can see their potential. 
8. You do not smile enough nor take enough photos.
9. Eat the sandwiches Mum makes you for lunch. Its healthier than going hungry. Or at least have some respect and tell her you would prefer something else, rather than throwing out your lunch and getting angry at her without her knowing why. 
10. Put the pocketknife down you idiot. Stop being so self indulgent - you will get angry at yourself every time you see that scar. These things take a long time to fade. 
11. Quit the sulky whiny 'everybody is against me' attitude. 
12. Stop feeling like nobody recognises you are important and start believing you are
13. Don't gain weight - its much harder to lose it
14. Don't stop karate - you are actually quite good. 
15. Be nicer to your sister - she will grow up way too fast and it scares you. Try and be there for her. 

 So there is my 15 Things to Tell My 15YO Self. 

Me at 15

Side bar: If I was able to tell my 15yo self all this - and she listened - I would not be the person I am today. So I probably wouldn't tell her. Although I would love her not to have that kind of teenage pain to go through, to be honest, it was probably a good thing. 

Ashleigh