Letter To The Past

Dear 16 year old Me, 

I may be interrupting your deep thoughts and serious contemplation about the future, after all you are at a point wherein you have to make the all important decision to choose your stream for junior college. And while you spend hours surfing the Internet and consulting countless people, I can only throw back my head and laugh heartily at the scale of the decision you had to take. Trust me, it is only the beginning - over the course of time, you will have to take decisions that are antagonistic to your nature yet essential at that moment. And since you have such a short attention span (I am sure you have switched windows to surf Orkut), I have listed some advice for you. Read, lady, read.

1. It is okay to get older, after all it happens only once a year, right? It is not wise to spend all of your birthday moping over the fact that time is flying by without you doing anything worthy of your life; you after all have the whole life ahead to think over this. Birthdays are going to get better if you choose to spend them with people who do not just want to have an extra helping of the cake but also your happiness.

2. While you keep hoping for a slight weight gain so that people stop calling you underweight, I advise you to be happy the way you are. The next few years you will gain quite a few kilos and then people will start calling you 'healthy'. Then you will make an attempt to shed some flab and then people will ask you if you are unwell. Opinions change, you should not.

3. Do not give up writing. Ever. It is one of the things that will keep you sane.

4. It is okay to get your heart broken; all you got to do is pick up the pieces, wipe your tears and vow never to cry for the same reason every again. Shit happens, you move on.

5. It is easy to separate the black characters from the white ones; it is the grey ones you should be wary of. You know, the two faced variety.

6. Click lots of photos, it does not need a great camera but a good eye to capture precious moments. Years from now on,when you stumble upon such photos, you would be grateful that you clicked them.

7. Tell people that you love them even though they might dismiss you as slightly(or certified) crazy. Call them out of the blue saying that you miss them, write them cute notes and make them feel wanted. There is no greater joy in the world than being told that someone loves you. 

8. Dance like no one is watching, dance like you do not care!

9. While you may not realize this now, it is very important to be yourself. Trust me, you cannot act like someone all your life, a point will come when you will realize the futility of this whole exercise. You are a bad actor so just quit the stage now.

10. Forgive. Because circumstances change and people do not always live up to your expectations. You will realize why it is important to give someone a second chance when you will need one yourself.

11. It is important for you to know that discovering new places does not require money; it is about teaming up with like-minded people who are willing to give you company  to survive on a shoe-string budget. Know this and you will be witness to some of the most lovely sunrises and sunsets.

12. Always laugh, sometimes it is all that you can do :). You do not have to be in control of every situation in your life, there is a certain sense of contentment in letting things go, to sit back and watch how things turn out. And they sure do turn out well.

13. 'This too shall pass', repeat this to yourself every time you are at a dead end. You will look back on the past and think how much you have sweated over the small things in life and regret the time wasted. Bad phases never last, it is your bad attitude that fuels the negative situation. You have to keep looking for signs telling you that it is enough and that the worst is over. What won't hurt you, will only make you stronger.

14. Do not have the Spicy Chicken from McDonalds; you will weep hot tears. Also, trying multiple flavors of Naturals ice-cream on the same day is not such a good idea.

15. Do not spend too much time on Facebook, but this advice is totally useless knowing that I am still have a window open right next to this one. :D

16. Lastly, never feel guilty about making yourself happy. There may come a choice when you have to choose between your own happiness and someone else's, but you do not have to be the martyr every time, do you? Everyone thinks about their own happiness and it is high time you did too, even though it means taking some hard decisions.

There, it is not that tough advice to stick to is it? You will continue to ignore many of them and make mistakes and I am glad that you will do so. After all, what is life without a few bruises and scratches? ;) ;)  

,Love

Shwetha

What would you want to tell your sixteen year old self?