Advice to the young ones

My friend Jessi wrote a fantastic post yesterday about memories of high school and how thankful she was that God allows us to grow up. I thank God for that everyday actually! There are many days that I wish I could go back to my high school and give those young innocent girls advice on life. From my own experiences, here is what I would say to them:

- Be a TRUE friend, its hard to find those these days.

- Boyfriends will come and go, true friends are forever.

- In most cases, true love in high school is not REAL love.

- Don't give yourself to peer pressure or pressure from boys. No matter what anyone says, its NOT cool. It will only get you in trouble.

- Don't get caught up in the gossip and petty things. It is a waste of time.

- Dressing inappropriately only draws boys for the wrong reasons.

- Don't try to grow up too fast, ENJOY being a kid. Life gets a lot harder after college.

- High school and college years are probably the most fun years of your life, enjoy every minute. Get involved, make lots of friends, participate in lots of activities. It will go by so fast, enjoy the years while you have them!

Now that I have a wonderful husband who really loves me for who I am, no matter what, I look back on those high school days and wish I hadn't spent so much time trying to be "cool." As adults, we all now know there is really no such thing as "cool" at 16 years old.

I never really succumbed to the peer pressures at that age, but I saw so many of my friends spiral downward because of pressure from others. Its not worth ruining your life at such a young age!

I think about high school now and just laugh at all of the silly, crazy things I did. I did make some mistakes, but I made some great memories in the process. Those memories will be with me forever!