Being a teenager was probably one of the hardest things I had to do in life so far! I made so many mistakes, was really insecure, and thought I knew it all! Boy, was I wrong! I was always the person in between. Never the nerd or popular girl, but the girl that was getting all the punches for wanting to help others. So here is some advice for teenage me:

1. Mind your own business. Not everyone needs or wants help. I thought I had to mend every little silly fight between my friends, or cheer them up when they were sad. But when I did, I ended up being the bad person because I said or did the wrong things. This is part of growing up, of life. A lot of small things work themselves out and there is no need to interfere (no matter how good your intentions are).
2. Embrace your body! I remember older women telling me to embrace and enjoy my body, because it would change fast enough. But as most teenagers, I wasn’t happy with the way I looked. My breasts weren’t big enough, my legs and belly were too big, my hair was stupid, and so on. Last year I found a picture of myself as a teenager, and couldn’t even imagine anymore what was wrong with me.
3. Don’t be ashamed about your mistakes. At that time whenever I made a mistake, it felt like the end of the world. Like I could never show my face anymore, ANYWHERE! Not knowing that these mistakes helped me to grow as a person, and to know what I wanted (or not wanted) in life.

Teenage self, you are perfect as you are and life will be okay. You will make some more bad decisions but these will lead to some very good decisions. Trust the process, trust yourself!