growing up sucks // dear teenager

FUN FACT: According to me, childish is the most overly misused word ever.

Whatever you do, whoever you are, Heaven forbid you ever call me childish. I am not childish.

Not now, not ever.

Childish is ALWAYS used negative and purposefully hurtful. Always.

And I refuse to be hurt by words that don’t apply to me.

I am CHILDLIKE.

Got it? For now and forever.

Teenagers have always cared what other people thought of them. It’s human.

And to me and so many others, I'm sure; being called childish is a sharp dagger to our hearts. We try so hard to be grown up and not to be anything like a child, but I wish more of us had the courage to be childlike (note the difference). To me, there is nothing more beautiful than people who use the knowledge of their past to get through the present and to plan out the future. Our previous selves, our younger versions, had it so easy. Everything was a game. You never worried or got anxious about anything serious and things were so easy.

But as we get older, and I'm sure this must be a default thing, we seem to notice more and more of adults and our parent’s mistakes. I never remember thinking that my parents were wrong before.  Never saw the dark circles and the long hours. Or maybe we've always noticed, but it was just never so important?

We always blame adults for not being brave. We blame them for not being as perfect as our younger selves saw them. We want them to keep being brave for us. We’re somewhere between wanting to be brave and being brave to others. We want to be little and grow up at the same time. CONFUSION? I agree.

I guess that’s why we’re so scared to grow up. In that short time between being a child and an adult, we see unfairness of the real world and the unfairness of not being a kid anymore. Cause, (SPOILER ALERT), growing up is inevitable. Scary right? But, luckily, even if you have the greyest hair or no hair at all, no one can change your heart.

So here’s a challenge: Be more childlike. Really. Try it.

·         Don’t care what people think of you and only focus on having the best time of your life.
·         Laugh at the stupidest jokes, just because you can.
·         Be pleased by the simplest things on earth. The dandelion buds, a butterfly’s wing, a sunset, a sunrise, a cloud formation, waves crashing on the beach, a wonderful day. A good book, moments with your mom, hugs from your gran, 2 am chats with your best friend, chocolate, compliments. (the list is kinda endless)
·         Spend more time with kids. Nothing influences my age like the age of the person I'm with.
·         Dream, dream, dream, dream. Seriously. Just never stop.

And if someone calls you childish, Heaven forbid you let them.