What I Wish My Teenage-Self Knew…

Do you ever find yourself reminiscing about your teenage years and what you would change or what you wish you knew? If you could go back in time, what would you tell your younger self?

As an adult, I’ve learned so much about myself and about life in general, and as much as the people in my life have taught me, there are some things that I wish I would have known… but hey, life is all about learning, right?

First of all, can we talk about makeup during the teenage years? The non-existent eyebrows and the orange ring around your face and the white neck. Not to mention the thick eyeliner and foundation covered lips, that phase was absolutely tragic. So one of the first things I would do is give myself a good old makeup lesson, and some eyebrows.

 Another thing I wish I knew is that hidden illnesses, such as mental illness, are actually a real thing, and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. During the teenage years, if you couldn’t physically see anything wrong, then there was nothing at all wrong with the person. I wish that myself along with every adult knew just how important mental health is, and that it should be focused on an talked about just as much, if not more, than physical health.

I wish I knew that dark days are also nothing to be ashamed of. It’s important to allow yourself to have these dark days too, as well as the good days. You can’t possibly be positive and “happy go lucky” all the time, you would be living a lie if you were. It’s okay to have those days where you feel negative and hate everything and just don’t want to do anything, but just remember to come out the other end. I wish I knew this because I remember all too well when during those years, you had to put up a front, and you were an easy target for bullying and being made fun of, if you showed any emotion, so you held those feelings in.

It’s perfectly okay to be you. You don’t need to do what everyone else is doing, you don’t owe it to anyone to be the someone, just to please them. Sometimes, it’s okay to cut someone out of your life if you feel like you can’t be yourself around them. It’s not selfish to put yourself first at times, because trust me, it’s easier to loose someone, than loose yourself.

The end of a relationship, is not the end of the world. Ahh remember those days where if you broke up with your boyfriend, that probably wasn’t even classed  as a boyfriend, your whole world came crashing down? Ahh if only that was all we had to worry about these days….

Most men are dicks, but they’re not all the same. Oh boy are they all different, they come in many shapes and sizes, but if it’s one thing most of them have in common, most of them think with their dicks. But there is some decent ones out there, somewhere, but I’ve let go of that “all boys are the same” attitude and holding onto the hope, and my wearing thin patience, that I’ll meet a decent one at some point.

It’s okay for women to be sexually active. If fellas can give into their dick brain, and sleep around, and watch porn and all that jazz, why can’t us women? Why should we be ashamed of it? Why can’t we get a pat on the back too? Obviously, as long as it’s safe, and consensual, you go guuuurl, enjoy it. I feel like us women shouldn’t feel like we need to hold back on talking about it, I mean, one of my favourite things is having a joke around having a gossip about it with friends.

The last thing I wish I knew in my teenage years is to stop comparing yourself to others. The pressure of feeling like you have to look a certain way to be beautiful during your teenage years was horrible. Yes, promoting body confidence still needs a lot of work in this day and age, but it’s gotten much better. I wish I had have seen the amount of grorgeous women with such a variety of different body images as I do these days, especially since blogging and YouTube came around. I, and a lot of other women would have felt inspired to believe that even though they might not look like the models they see on tv and in magazines, they are also beautiful.

I could go on and on about this topic forever, but these are just a few things I wish I knew in my youngers years, and it makes me wonder how different the teenage years would have been if we did know some of these things. It’s Monday and my mind was on overdrive so this was a bit of fun to write.

I hope you enjoyed reading,

have a great week lovelies!

Laura x

Published by Laura's Little World

Laura O' Toole , 23 , Irish. Lover of all things beauty , make up & Lush. Spreader of positivity & happiness , believer in self confidence and positive body image... :)

28 thoughts on “What I Wish My Teenage-Self Knew…”

  5. mchi. says:
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    This was such a lovely thing to read.

    I’ve been battling with whether or not to do a post like this in the upcoming future and seeing your post reminded me of why it’s such a good idea to follow through with. Also, the makeup thing spoke to me on so many levels. My makeup was awful as a teenager, except for my liner (my wing was always sharp enough to cut someone.)

    mchi (@mchiouji) | http://blog.mchiouji.me

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  9. ashlexyz says:
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    I love this post – the most important one of these for me is invisible illness. In school I never even thought twice about my problems being an illness, but it was. Except no one took it seriously because I was so young and “it’s impossible for a young person to be mentally ill” so it’s not an issue that was ever raised.

    It’s definitely someone I wish younger people knew more about! Although, I’m definitely not happy teenagers these das have skipped the blue and green eyeshadow and orange face and gone straight into make up pros!

    XO
    Ashley

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  14. Kirsty says:
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    I struggled so much as a teenager and not realising I had mental health issues and anxiety made things harder. I wish I knew more about it then as I think it would have made a difference

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  17. littlemissmelanie says:
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    Relate to this so much. My younger years were awful but I guess without our hard times we wouldn’t get to be who we are now and I feel quite proud of who I’ve became. Always need to try to take a positive out of a negative and becoming a better person has to be up there with the best positives to come from them. Thanks for sharing, great read. Mel x

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  19. Jess @PTcontender says:
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    hey I’m here from #bloggerspromohour (my first one!)… I also wish I could tell my younger self about relationships ending and how it doesn’t mean my life is falling apart. That would’ve saved a lot of time & heartbreak. Fun post :)) Glad I found it through Twitter!

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  25. rhi2589 says:
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    I would just like to say Thankyou, that has actually helped me and ik that when I get some dark days I think it’s the end of the world and I’m embarrassed to say anything. Could you check out some of mine? I could use some good feedback as I’m new to this and you definitely know what your talking about aha. Thankyou again x

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  26. Tatiana says:
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    This is such a lovely post! I am only 15 but this January was the worst and hardest period in my life. After so much struggle, I was diagnosed with a panic disorder. I’m lucky (not really) because my mother has suffered from panic attacks as well and she understood that even if it isn’t physical doesn’t mean it’s not there. Most of my friends are great about it and make me feel so much better while other were just ignorant when I told them and thought that it wasn’t serious. I really wish more people would understand that mental illness and disorders are a real thing that we shouldn’t be ashamed off. As for makeup, I don’t really wear much unless it’s a formal event. I’ll probably regret this when I’m older but whatever.

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