I remember middle school fondly. I know that existing deep in it's trenches is complicated. I can still remember trying to be the person everyone wants you to be.
To the girls, you are the funny, outgoing girl. You introduce them to the boys and make the conversations less awkward because you know exactly what the boys are all about. To the boys, you are the girl who is different. You like the same things they like and you're easy to be around. And to your parents, you're the smart child. You bring home excellent grades and are always told the world is yours for the taking.
You wish that everyone knew what you were really feeling, what you were really like. You wish the girls invited you to slumber parties. You long to share beauty tips and talk about the boys. You wish the boys treated you like a girl. You wish they thought you were pretty instead of thinking of you as one of the guys. You long for one of them to ask you to be his girlfriend instead of asking for advice on how to ask someone else out. And you wish your parents accepted what you wanted to do. You wish their dreams for you matched with yours.
As a mother, I know now that the most important thing I didn't do at 13 was be true to me. Social pressures cause you to bend and alter so much of who you are. Rediscovering that person in your 30's is scary and long over due. Be proud of who you are, be proud of what you like, be vocal about what you want. The worst that could happen is someone tells you no. Being true to you is the best chance you can take in life!
This post is written in affiliation with the Dove Self Esteem Movement. For more information, visit DoveMovement.com.
8 comments:
ah!! Great post!!! :) I really really hope to tell my children this and that they will listen!
Heather From and Mommy Only Has Two Hands! and Lynhea Designs
Great letter, if only it were possible to write letters like that. To only know then what we know now...
There are quite a few things I would like to share with my younger self but I'm good with how things are turning out. :]
I absolutely love this. I am amazed that in my own adult life, that when I finally got back to the true me that I was told by some around me that all of a sudden I was living a lie. Am I making sense? I lived for so long fitting to the mold that someone else expected of me or rather slowly, very slowly changed into the mold they epected of me that when I finally decided I was worth being true to the heart of me again, I was accused of living a lie. *shaking head*
Great post! Big hugs....have a grand weekend!
Excellent post!!
Good stuff.
I think I would tell my 13 yr old self to shut up and listen more. lol
I love this! I am trying to figure out how to be true to me right now. It is hard and I wish someone would have taught me this long ago!
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