Here is a list of what I imagine it might have been helpful for my 17-year-old self to be told when she was graduating from high school:
1. That boy who dumped you, who you’re pining for? He isn’t really what you’re longing for. It’s the delicious feeling you once had in his presence that you are yearning to feel again. You will.
2. That boy who’s an old friend, who you feel so natural and open with? That’s love. One day you’ll marry someone a lot like that boy.
3. Those obsessive thoughts running through your mind are just what the mind does. They are not who you are. Learn to meditate.
4. You are beautiful. Quirky, off-beat, skipping-across-the-street-barefoot beautiful. So is everyone else.
5. Your parents are sometimes lost in their own dramas. Have mercy on them.
6. Don’t feel guilty receiving love and support from adults other than your parents.
7. Your attraction to music and dancing and altered states of consciousness is actually a spiritual yearning to be part of something bigger than your anxious little ego.
8. Your body is a miraculous gift to be treasured.
9. You are not your body.
10. Your parents’ and teachers’ criticisms and advice are reflections of their souls, not yours.
11. Never, ever, confuse school with real life.
12. Learning is about curiosity. The most important learning will happen outside of school, and for your whole life, if you stay curious.
13. You are not the source of your parents’ – or anyone else’s – unhappiness.
14. You won’t always feel this way.