10 Things I Could Teach My Younger Self

It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to pour feelings & write about them. Recently, after passing my birthday. I have been thinking about life, goals, & my purpose of existence. So, I look back and think about these 10 things I could teach my younger self. With time I taught myself to be positive & happy. No matter what, look at the bright side, the fuller side of the glass and stuff like that. But I don’t always remember being like this. And It’s tough extremely tough to stay positive. Sometimes, even nowadays I feel down or get sad. That’s anything but natural.

We were brought up in Saudi Arabia. Me with my two elder sisters. We belong to a practicing Muslim family. Mom & Dad always showered us with love and care and they made sure that we felt confident no matter what we do. Papa always believed in us, helped us & taught us to love and give without conditions. So our childhood was pretty happy alhamdulillah. But there are things that I feel every young girl needs to understand. As we grow and see the world. We absorb everything that surrounds us, everything that media teaches us. A young mind is like a sponge. It absorbs everything.

Growing up is tough. At that age, all we want to do is grow up & start living our dream life. We don’t know that it isn’t that easy. Everything has pros & cons. I have an 11-month daughter, thinking about her made me write this post. These are the things I want to tell myself If I can go back in time:

1. Body Image:
   As soon as I entered my teens, all I remember was being conscious. I was never comfortable in my own skin. Never happy with the way I look. No matter how many times people would say I look fine or gorgeous. My mind wouldn’t accept it. It took me a while to surpass that stage. I wish I could go back in time & tell myself that I am perfectly fine. Perfect type of “me”. There is only one me. Nobody could ever be like me & I should never try to be like anyone else. Most girls these days go through body image issues. They are getting worse with time. It worries me thinking How will kids handle so much pressure from media? Pressure to look a certain size, a certain color of skin, a certain type of hair. We are so so so much more than just a number & just a size.
2. Make Great Friends:
   I had great friends and am still in touch with them. I have amazing memories of my childhood & I am blessed to have them. Try to be friends with people who lift you up. People with fewer issues and a positive attitude. People who teach you to be you. They don’t try to change you. Or you don’t feel obliged to behave a certain way to be with them. You learn a lot of things from the people you spend your time with. Time is very precious. You would want to spend it in the right way. Don’t lose even seconds in wrong relationships.
3. Never Give up/ Work Hard:
   This is something I completely believe in & try to implement more. I don’t give up on people and things that matter to me. After investing my time & love in a relationship, I can’t just let it go. Every problem has a solution but It just takes some time to tweak the solution. And the feeling of achievement after finding the solution is unimaginable. In addition to that, Don’t give up on hobbies. Hobbies polish our talents. People start writing, painting or playing music for a hobby but that turn out to be their talent. So don’t give up. I always wanted to learn calligraphy & now I am just trying to get back at it. It’s really hard to take out time but I am trying my best.
4. Say Sorry:
   I have met people in my life who think being sorry means that you have lost the battle. But I want to ask them, why are you fighting yourself? A lot of times, our heart tells us to apologize, call the person, text the person but we don’t. Because our ego stops us. There is no harm in picking up the phone & apologizing. It would only raise you up. It would never lower you down. Because forgiving others can liberate you & put your heart at peace.
5. Spend Time with Family:
   The family consists of the people who care for us the most & we take them for granted the most too. I love my family a lot like a lot. There is not a single day I don’t think about my parents in Pakistan. We should spend as much time as possible with them. They are a huge blessing. Being young we don’t realize and take that love for granted.
6. Be yourself:
   Never be ashamed to be yourself. I remember my mom would always insist that you are fine just the way you are. Never think that what would people say? People are going to talk anyways, so it’s better you do what you want to do.
7. Goal Oriented:
   When it comes to being goal oriented, it’s always associated with monetary value or ambition. Having a goal could be anything. It just gives you a time limit & motivation to achieve whatever you want to. I remember I always wanted to help people & animals since I was like 6-7 years old. This is my personality. I am not trying to be a saint. Lol. It gives me so much satisfaction & happiness when I can give back to the world. In any way possible. You should dream big, dream crazy & follow your heart.
8. Love & Live in the Present:
   At that age, all I could think about was getting out of Riyadh. Trust me it’s a pretty boring place. But now all I can think is that it was the best time of our lives. It was stress-free, no responsibilities, unconditional love from parents & just happiness. Try to be more mindful of your surrounding & be more present in that moment.
9. Health is Priority:
   Drink water, take care of skin, Skip the junk food. It’s called junk for a reason. Make exercise a habit. Do one activity that you love. I loved swimming & still, love it.
10. Mom’s are right:
    It’s a given that everyone takes our parents for granted. But they never take us for granted, each kid for them is as precious as it can be. They will always appreciate us & no doubt They are our biggest fans. I treasure every advice that my mother & father gave. My younger self-wasn’t mature enough to understand everything they said but Now looking back at it, I have many moments when I realize that Mothers are always right.Live in the present. Enjoy every moment & every second that has been given to you. Do the things you always wanted to do. Above all, believe in your dreams. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are not capable. We are all capable & much more than that. It’s the uncertainty that stops us from taking chances.
    
    Above everything, don’t forget to Pray & Believe in miracles.
    Your comments are like dosage of motivation for me, Please Comment. 🙂