The photo to the left was sent to me yesterday in a text message and it started a journey down memory lane. I dug out a box of photos and started sifting through them.
For most of these pictures I can remember the day they were taken. As I remembered who I was at that time in my life I was left wishing I could go back and tell that kid what I would know.
@ 7 It is called dyslexia. You will never be the best student but don't quit.Once you have lost momentum it is much harder to get it going again. Tell your mom that your teacher is abusive, she will have your back.
@ 9 Stop trying to fit in now, in the future this will only cause heartache. Be true to yourself, your likes, your dislikes, be confident in yourself. Kids are mean pay no attention to that, they truly are just trying to feel better about themselves. You don't have to justify who you are to anyone.
@ 12 Your struggle to fit in will now start to cost you relationships. Maybe these are relationships that you don't need anyway but when you are 32, you will wonder about it. You now have school friends and church friends. News flash, if you can't be friends in any setting you find yourself in, then you are not really friends. Your parents will get a divorce years from now anyway, don't spend a second worrying about any of that, just be a kid. "Blessed are the flexible, for they are not easily bent out of shape." You will learn this quote when you are 14 but if you could know it now, and realize that it applies in E-V-E-R-Y area of your life, you will be better for it. Don't be so judgmental. That one is easier said then done. It is your personality, however your judgement does not need to be on display for the world. On the flip side of that coin, people will judge you, that is there problem, not yours. Never listen to anyone who says " Just because you are strong enough to do something doesn't mean that you should." Again here it is about momentum, once you stop, it is much harder to get it going again. There are very few things that you can say that will change a person for the better, but what you show them... that is what will really make a difference. Talk less act more.
@ 14 Cherish your friendships. Some of them will last forever. You will go years without talking to or seeing some of these friends, but you will always be able to pick right back up where you left off with them. Some you will loose contact with and miss terribly. Again you will never be the best student, but take every class you can. Get all of the education you can while it is free. Take the ACT and SAT. You will make some memories that you will cherish always. You think that your are fat. You have no idea! It won't be long before your body is scared by car accidents and children, you really are perfect. You will meet the man you will marry, get to know this new kid, get to know all that you can about him because it will bite you in the butt after you marry him that you didn't. He will be your best friend, he will love you like no other and hurt you like no other, but he can probably say the same about you.
@ 19 You don't get do overs. Make things the way you want them to be. Nothing from this point on will be what you had imagined. How you have defined yourself to this point, well some of it is not nearly as important as you think so once again be true to yourself, your likes, and your dislikes.
This list could go on and on and on, but I can't go back. I can only carry what I have learned with me and hope that I can impart some of it to my own children. That maybe their list won't be so long.
