To my younger self.

Let's see, today is about what I would tell my 16 year old self, if I could. What better way then a list of 10 things?

1. Don't be so focused on yourself. It doesn't matter what you look like every day. Take some of the time and energy you put into making yourself look good, and go out and make someone else feel good. It will make your days better and also change the lives of others!
2. Smile more. Come on, you are 16... What do you have to worry about? Figure out what is most important to you in your life and make sure they make you happy. No point in going through life unhappy and negative all the time.
3. School will only get harder. Don't look for the easy way out of things, it won't teach you anything and you will end up slowing yourself down later on. Push on and learn as much as you can. One day you won't be in school anymore, but your intellect will always be something up have.
4. It's not about how many dates you go on. So what if your friends are getting asked on dates all the time. Your time will come. And if waiting is too hard, go and do something about it, go ask boys out, make a fun time, instead of just sitting and moping about what you could be doing. It will only make you think something is wrong with you and kill yor self esteem anyways! Go out and have a good time.
5. Be a better role model to your young women girls. So many of these little beehives look up to you, and many of them will shape their lives based off of what they see you doing. Never ditch church, never give a teacher attitude, and don't allow yourself to be in places that the spirit can't be. After all, these girls really look up to you.
6. It's great to have best friends, but make time for your family too. Don't be upset and mom and dad when they set rules or tell you that you need to stay with the family tonight. It's okay to be sad, but be understanding and respectful in that they know what they are doing. One day you will understand why they set the rules they did. You will be grateful for them!
7. Take the extra time and energy into making sure you believe in something. Your whole life you have been raised in the church, but it's up to you, to Know if you believe in it. No one can make you have an opinion or belief in something. It will help you out later if you can strengthen the testimony that you have now. Even though you may think it's small, you believe so much of the church you just have to decide for yourself that you want it in your life.
8. Exercise. Not just to be healthy. It is a habit that will be way harder to get into when you have kids. Get in the habit now of taking care of your body and I promise you will feel better mentally and physically.
9. Keep your room clean always. It's so easy to be messy and with so much stuff it is hard to find a place for it all the time, but you won't have an excuse when you get your own house one day. Your husband won't appreciate the mess and your life will feel more cluttered than it needs to. It doesn't have to be spotless, but don't just fling laundry and your school work everywhere. Organize your life!
10. Last but not least, you are going to be sad. You are going to feel alone and that "no one likes you". NONE of that is true. You have friends that do care. You have family that loves you more than anything. And most importantly, you have a Heavenly Father who is just trying to teach you a lesson. Get down on your knees as often as you can, but especially when you feel like no one is there. Life is hard. It's not meant to be easy. Everyone has hard times, and we are all learning how to deal with the things that are thrown our way. You don't have to wait till you are home to pray. You can pray in your car, pray in your heart. You aren't alone in life ever. Sometimes you need to try extra hard to get an answer to prayers and even when you feel like your prayers haven't been answered, keep trying. Sometimes the answer is no, but those times I'm convinced that Heavenly Father sends a sense of comfort to help when the answer isn't what we want to hear. Stay strong, you have so much to look forward to in your life. You are an amazing young woman.

Love,
Alana

Tomorrow: 5 things that make me happy.