there's going to be friends you lose, make & keep. & more heartbreak & pimples than you ever saw coming. yes. you read that right. you make a lot of dumb decisions that end up hurting you- you never wash your make-up off at night. yuck.
the world is currently all about you. no, wait, it's not, but it's going to take at least 8 years to figure that out. I take that back, we're still figuring that out.
start running now! when you're older & finally decide to take it up it's soooo much harder. curse you & your lack of athletic ability.
I wish you weren't about to date the dumbest guy of your dating career, but you are. you won't listen to your friends either, who tell you for the first but not last time in your life that he's "not good for you". instead you'll embarrass yourself & hurt your parents horribly. then you'll be broken up with via a drunken MySpace message- don't worry about it, you're tough & quickly will get over him. & now you laugh about it with your parents.
thanks for focusing on your friendships then. you settle down with the 2 girls who will be with you through the beginning of the next bad relationship, & even when your friendship "breaks up", you get back together. I can't imagine how your life would have turned out without having them as your people.
you know how Mom always asks for "obedient children" for Christmas every year? I wish you would have given that to her. you won't see how valuable a gift that would have been until you watch your teenage brothers go through the same power struggles & fights with her & wish they would listen although you never did. although some of their fights are valid points. just OBEY, boys. also I love you. but you're teenage boys sooo you're gross.
remember how cute this little girl is. not just any 3 year-old would let you make a mask out of raw egg, honey and oatmeal and put it on their face. she did so & smiled for a picture. almost 10 years later you'll miss holding this little girl & will still try to cuddle her even though she's almost as tall as you. when she talks to you you'll find yourself staring at her face & wondering when she lost her high little girl's laugh & baby voice.
be nicer. just do it. years from now adults in your life will remind you of how "bad" & "hurtful" you were as a teenager. it sucks hearing that. there's nothing you can do to change the fact that you were a mean girl in high school- just remember what you were & what you'll become.
you never lose that death glare though. as an adult, it's now called "resting female dog face", but you never lose it. guys will tell you to smile more your entire life. maybe you'll listen one of these days. probably not.
stop plucking your eyebrows so thin. listen to Mom.
enjoy the fact that you have a face as smooth as a baby's bottom. don't gloat about it, however- your teenage acne hits hard in your 20's. stupid karma.
stop crying so much. before you're 20 you will probably have spent the equivalent of 30 full days just BAWLING. over guess what? boys. that's dumb. go volunteer at a homeless shelter. babysit somebody's kids. do something that makes you realize how trivial a& small your struggles are in the grand scheme of things.
you should probably have done a lot more school, as in enough to technically graduate high school, but fortunately you'll graduate college with honors just fine even without a fake home schooling diploma.
this girl will still be in your life 8 years later. even though you're a couple years shy of dating her ex-boyfriend. even though you flippantly think it won't damage your friendship with her. luckily your long-distance friendship outlives that ill-fated long-distance relationship and you'll continue to be best friends from 493 miles away.
one day years away from your 16 year-old life filled with a new job at Bob Evan's, fighting with your girlfriends via e-mails and IM messages, trying desperately to be "loved" by any boy, you'll get to work with teenagers. remember your world at their age. remember that the big picture didn't exist & your problems were the most important issue in your life. be kind, be soft, & realize this is maybe your way of giving back for all that you took in your selfish teenage years.
& seriously. wash your face every night.
