"If you love her", I said, "you'll love somebody else someday." 
— Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar)

I guess the worst stages of my life were when I was in my mid-teenage years where mostly I was stupid, too naive or too dependent to people. I was a bit rebellious, and looking back on those years made me cringe and laugh at the same time thinking "If only I could erase those years of poor young me." but of course, this is reality I cannot do anything but accept those horrible mistakes that I've done and learn from those.

Now, if I had the chance to travel back in time and teach my younger self the dos and don'ts in life, I could have done it pronto:

DISCERNMENT OVER TRUST

I could never know or find out if the people around me are toxic or not. Just because you love them and you think they love you in return doesn't mean that you could say personal/sensitive stuff to them, you might end up in bad relationships. These people you used to trust are nowhere to be found - what's worse is that they have with them some of your secrets and you're left with the thought of it being spread or be a center of rumors. 

HE'S NOT GOING TO DEFINE YOUR WHOLE WORLD AND MOST ESPECIALLY YOU

"Love is a many splendored thing" yes. But just because you're head-over-heels in love with your boyfriend and because he's professed his ~love~ to you, does not mean you'd have to shut your whole world and make it between "the two of us". You see, love is an amazing thing/feeling, it's one of the most amazing things in the world but being in a relationship isn't always sweet as sugar, once it becomes toxic, it's not love anymore. You just can't go loca over this guy who wants to change who you really are, you've got a lot of friends and people who genuinely love you. 

IT'S OKAY TO TRY THINGS OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

You're a theatre kid and yet you're too shy in trying new things. Don't confine yourself with whatever people feed you, being courageous and badass (at times) will take you to new heights. Make new friends and share awesome moments with them. 

IT'S OKAY TO BE ALONE

Why can't you survive lunch being alone? There's always this fear of walking the hallways without any friends because you think that people will judge you for being a loner. Tell you what mi amiga, alone time isn't so bad at all! Sometimes you need to have a break from your social life and focus on your own thoughts and plans. Relationships with people can be a bit shitty at times, so give yourself a break spend your time at the library or read a book at the coffee shop. BEING ALONG DOES NOT EQUATE TO BEING A LONER.

I wish I could have learned these things years ago, but I guess we have to learn the hard way. I'm thankful anyway that I learned from my stupid and shallow mistakes. It's an unending process of life though, learning and committing mistakes. 

I do hope you guys learned from these too!