1. You are an introvert. This isn't a bad thing, it just means that you like time alone and that you don't gain energy from being around people. That doesn't mean that you don't like people or want to spend time with others but that you need to have time to yourself as well.
2. You don't always have to be right. You will lose friendships if you act that way. Remain humble and remember that you don't know everything, give people the benefit of the doubt...generally they don't mean to hurt you.
3. Do your freaking hair. Get over the slicked back ponytails. Seriously.
4. Learn the scriptures, I know that you don't know this yet, but you will be serving a mission and it would be really helpful if you had actually put effort into knowing the stories of the Book of Mormon better.
5. Love yourself. Love your body. I know it is hard, but if you don't you will still be struggling with body image at 25, so just do it!
6. Don't quit learning the violin and don't quit doing art. Those things bring you happiness and light and they foster your creative side. I promise that playing the violin is actually fun and not a chore!
7. Don't care about boys. Focus on learning because learning is awesome and I wish I would've retained more from high school. It isn't like you really dated much anyways, but dont fill your head with crap, fill it with knowledge!
8. Don't make your self-worth about what other people think of you. You will struggle with this your entire life if you dont start working on it now. The only persons opinion you should care about is Heavenly Fathers, and He loves you so you need to remember that and not let what others say effect you so much.
9. You have been super blessed to go to some really cool places and see some really cool things as a 16 year old. Please dont take those things for granted. Trust me, normally teenagers dont get to see all the cool things you have seen. You are extremely blessed, take it in and cherish it please!
10. Life may not go the way you expect it to go but roll with the punches and be happy. Trust God and trust His timing. It is easier said than done, but if you learn early on maybe it won't be so hard later on.
(I know that this picture is around the time I was 16...maybe 17? I can't remember!)
i love this list. i think 16-year-olds care soooo much about what others think, and i don't know if there is a way around that haha i struggled with that so much and i wish i could tell my past self to stop caring about that!
ReplyDeletefor the record, i thought you were really cool when we were 16. :)
ReplyDelete#3 for reals. I once convinced my mom to let Allison and me have slicked back ponytails for family pictures... She still displays that picture and I seriously cringe each time I look at it. And I also thought the 16-year-old Alyssa was cool. :)
ReplyDeleteyessss. this is great. seriously, why did we as teenagers care so much about what everyone else thought? such a waste of energy. 16 year old alyssa was super cool! (so is 25 year old alyssa. :) )
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