What I Wish I’d Known Before I Grew Up.
I still remember being young. Not younger, like fifteen or sixteen, I mean young. I mean no younger than two, but no older than eight. When I still had white blonde hair, chubby cheeks, and no sense of fashion. I don’t remember many certain, specific, long memories — I couldn’t tell you what I did on January 17th 1999 — but I remember small flashbacks of things that happened sometime when I was a child. I remember riding my bike one day with my cousin. I remember being given a pet lamb. I remember choosing our new puppy. I remember the day my little sister was born. I remember being young and carefree and completely happy. I didn’t worry about what I ate or how I looked. I didn’t have to wear make-up before I left the house. I didn’t care about what clothes I wore, if I was covered in mud, if people liked me. Just so long as I was having fun. I remember playing games me and my big sister made up, telling each other made-up stories we used to whisper under the tree in the garden. I remember that once upon a time, we didn’t argue.
Then I grew up, with no knowledge of how to do it, and it happened too fast and confusingly to learn. I wish someone had sat me down and told me what I needed to know.
I wish someone had told me that eating healthily is good, and you should definitely do it, but you don’t have to feel guilty because you ate a biscuit last week. You don’t have to feel guilty for being hungry.
I wish I had known that exam results aren’t everything. If you don’t get the grades you expected, or hoped for, it’s not the end of the world. Your GCSEs will seem insignificant when you’re in college, and your A Levels don’t matter so much when you’re at uni. At the time I was taking them, I thought the world would crash around me if I didn’t get straight As.
I wish someone had told me that perfection is overrated and unattainable. You will never reach the perfection you desire, because our flaws are what make us ourselves. You will never learn to accept failure if you are perfect every time. You will never learn that failure is relative, and important.
I wish I had known that my sisters could be my best friends. We weren’t set against each other, competing for the spotlight. If life is a race, we are a team, not rivals.
I wish someone had told me that it’s okay to wear make-up, it’s fun to put on, and if it makes you feel good then go for it, but you have no obligation. You can leave the house barefaced.
I wish I had known before I grew up that life is not a stage. You do not have to live your life acting as the very best version of you. Sometimes people get tired and grumpy and stressed. Sometimes people get sad. That’s okay, and you don’t have to pretend it’s not.
I wish someone had told me before I grew up that bad things happen to good people. You and your friends and the rest of the world do not always get what’s deserved. Don’t for a moment think the universe owes you anything.
I wish someone had sat me down before I grew up and told me not to worry. I wish someone had sat me down and told me that life gets hard sometimes, but humans have a way of making it through.
With Thanks to simon Arthurs
