44 Things I Wish I Had Been Told As a Teenager (It's Just Raquel)

1.  Ask yourself 'Will I still like this in 10 years?' before you lay hard-earned money down to buy something.

2.  Practice with the eyeliner, and use it minimally until you get it right.

3.  Listen to that gut reaction.

4.  God gave you a conscience for a reason.

5.  Call your grandparents - just because.

6.  Don't be passive aggressive on social media.  It's immature.

7.  Don't ever tell your parents that you hate them.

8.  You can wear a regular bra with a cross-backed shirt, but never wear a cross-backed bra with a shirt that doesn't cover it.

9.  Some people will just plain never like you.  Don't let it ruin your life.

10.  Kill people with kindness.  (The whole 'heaping coals of fire on their head' thing really does work.)

11.  Don't yell when you're angry.  You hurt more people than you will realize.

12.  You were beautiful before that guy told you.

13.  Don't let others define you or make you think they know who you are better than you know yourself.

14.  Invest money in a good car, not a fancy one.  All you need is for it to get you places.

15.  Don't let one mistake define you.  But learn from your mistakes and move on.

16.  Learn to cook.  And eat home-cooked meals.  They are literally the best.

17.  Your brother can see a crappy boy before you can.

18.  'Fun' doesn't have to include alcohol or smoking or drugs.

19.  Friday nights are 99% more fun if you stay home, have friends over to watch a movie and eat ice cream.

20.  It's only a bad day.  Not a bad life.

21.  Tell your parents 'thank you'.

22.  Learn to apologize...and to forgive.

23.  Learn to be humble.

24.  Sex does not make you mature or an adult.

25.  Treat others the way you want to be treated, including while you're driving on the freeway.

26.  Keep a journal.  Write in it as often as possible, but don't beat yourself up when you don't keep up with it.

27.  Listen to a song before watching the music video.

28.  Read a book before watching the movie its based on.

29.  Stop pretending to be someone to impress people and make them like you.

30.  You'll regret spending over $20 on a piece of clothing.

31.  I know sugar and chocolate make you break out really bad, but just eat the dang candy bar.

32.  Pray for your future husband.

33.  Ask your grandparents to tell you stories every chance you get.

34.  Learn languages.

35.  If you have a presence on social media, expect to get haters.  It's just how it works.

36.  Write thank you notes for everything.

37.  If you want to be treated like an adult, act like one.

38.  Travel.  As often as you possibly can.

39.  Get a job that you will enjoy doing.  Don't accept one that you'll be complaining about all the time.

40.  You can't fix people.  You can only love them through their difficult-ness.

41.  You can't make people understand what you're saying.  You can only hope they listen, not just hear you.

42.  There will be people in your life who change drastically - for the better and for the worse.  Learn about them.  And don't ever forget to love them through their stupidity.

43.  Ask God to show you the plans He has for your life, but don't expect Him to drop a How To manual from the sky.  Go out and search for opportunities.  Go until He shuts the door.  Run until He holds you back.  Always be in tune to His voice.

44.  Life really is beautiful.  It really is.  Sometimes you need to look for the beauty, but I guarantee it is always, always, always there.

blog post found here