10 things I wish I could tell high school me

Inspired by this article in RELEVANT Magazine.

1.   Put more time and effort into your friends and family. Lots of people will come and go, but your real friends and your family are there forever.  It pays to invest in them. Looking back, I wonder how much deeper those relationships could be now if I had taken my little sister out for ice cream- without bringing the boyfriend.

2. [Most of the time] adults really know what they are talking about. When your parent/youth pastor tells you it won’t work to date someone who doesn’t share your faith, it isn’t because they are trying to be a fun sucker and ruin your life, it’s because they’ve been there.  Later, you will tell the girls in your high school small group stuff the same things! It isn’t because you want to make their lives lame and churchy, it’s because you’ve experienced the incredible heartbreak of figuring stuff out the hard way.

     

      3. It’s ok not to date. In this day and age, it’s all about “figuring out what you like” and “test driving the car before you buy it”, but too much dating can have some ill effects.  Don’t misinterpret, I’m not saying you’ll marry the first person you date, but I am saying that when you do find someone worth thinking about forever with, it will be a lot sweeter without the baggage of multiple failed relationships.

4. Read the bible- It isn’t as boring as you think it will be. The picture you’ll get of Jesus will be more precious that could ever be put into words during a church sermon.

5. Stop trying to grow up so fast!  One day you really will get to do everything yourself.  There is nothing glamorous about going to the grocery store while running a fever to buy your own chicken soup.  In that moment, you'll want nothing more than to live with your parents again.

6.   People who are difficult to deal with are usually that way for a reason.  Everyone has been though their own kind of hell.  Try your best to be kind to them anyway. 

7.  Christians aren’t perfect. It will take a lot of pressure off of you and your friends if you start believing this.  You are going to have moments when someone you thought of as a “perfect Christian” says something racist/has too much to drink/hurts your feelings.  It doesn’t prevent them from being a good person.  They are human.  We all sin.

8.Don’t look for one person to be your perfect match. You need lots of people to make your life complete.  You need a friend who will listen to your problems, one that will get your butt off the couch on Saturday afternoon, and  one that will creep on your new crush’s facebook profile and tell you that you are WAY cuter than his ex-gf.  A single person can’t do all those things for you, so make time for lots of different people in your life.

    

      9. DON’T mess with your GPS while you are driving.  It doesn’t end in good times for you. 

10. Time goes by faster than you think. Try to enjoy today the best you can.