Eight things you’d wish to tell your 13-year-old self

Picture this for a second: you wind up in a time machine and go back in time to when you were 13.

There you are feeling all shades of odd as you stare at your much younger self and it suddenly dawns on older you – why not share some words of wisdom with your younger self. What would you say to yourself?

We bet it would be along the line of, “Growing up is a scam”. A phrase you’ve perhaps blurted out at least once in your adult life.

And to be perfectly honest, some days it sure feels like growing up is a huge fraud.

In this article, we’ll be highlighting 8 things we guess you might tell your 13-year old self about life.

• Enjoy Your Childhood Thoroughly

We bet this is one word of wisdom you’d leave with your younger self especially if as a teen, you were so caught up wanting to be grown up so bad.

Those of us who were so keen on growing up or acting grown-up at 13 sometimes forgot how to just chill and be kids.

• Grades Aren’t Everything

School, parents, and adults made us believe getting good grades was all that mattered in living successful lives as adults. Some of us bought this half-truth until we became adults and were dealt with the hard truth.

While it’s true that good grades can open certain great opportunities in life for an individual, it isn’t always a guarantee. What parents and the educational system failed to mention was that life is beyond good grades. That an individual would need qualities like; integrity, financial literacy, social skills, great emotional and social intelligence, to live a decent life.

• Follow Your Passions

We bet another piece of advice you’d give to your 13-year-old is to follow his/her passions. That’s one thing a lot of kids of our generation weren’t encouraged to do.

Whether it’s photography, modeling, football, writing, fashion, music, tech, visual art, dancing, etc you definitely would encourage 13-year-old you to follow that passion diligently as in the future, these passions are the new cool.

• Don’t Worry Too Much

We also imagine this is advice you’d relate to your younger self. As 23-year-olds, we worried over the silliest things like what other kids thought of us. We worried about not having money to buy the latest gadgets or not wearing the trendy clothes, or footwear of the time.

We even worried when a boy or girl we liked didn’t like us back. 

• Build Real Friendships

Some of the friendships we had as 13-year-olds were just for convenience and not because of care or love. We sometimes made friends to be popular, be part of the “clique”, etc

You definitely would advise your younger self to put in more thought when choosing friends.

• Listen Your Mum (And Dad)

As much as we hated the sound of, ‘mother is right” as kids, it’s kind of true. Notice how now as an adult, most of the stuff your mother or father spoke to you about makes more sense?

For instance, your parent’s advice on honesty, being a person of integrity, respect, discipline, all make sense to the adult version of you.

Additionally, you might add that although your parents seemed to be “too tough” on you, they truly wanted what was best for you.

• Stop Fighting With Your Siblings

Some of us lost count of the fights we had with our siblings. The ones we won, and even the ones we lost. The ones that left us with scars, and the ones that didn’t, your older self would definitely want to educate 13-year-old you to be nicer to your siblings.

• Not Feel Awkward

It was quite common for 13-year-olds to feel awkward about normal things in their lives and you might tell your younger self that sometimes, it’s okay to go through some things.

Whatever it is you’d like to say to your 13-year-old self, we bet it’s valid and would be quite helpful to your younger self. Although this article is based on an imaginary time machine, your words of wisdom aren’t. This is why you can pass them down to actual 13-year-olds or kids in your life at the moment and perhaps to your own children.