What would you tell your 13 year old self....

After reading my last blog post, my friend Jamie reached out to me and came up with a great idea since we both want to write more, we will send each other 2 prompts on Sunday and we have the week to write one or both of them. The prompts she sent me this week were 1. The Good Life and 2. What would you tell your 13 year old self?

What would I tell my 13 year old self…..
“Tiffany, embrace your quirks and your individuality. Don’t change your hair because people think you should fit inside of the mold that they assume is made for everyone. Be ok with being yourself. Those who are meant to love you will love YOU for exactly who you are! Be brave! Think outside of the box.
Don’t get married at 18, girl!! You will change so much for years and years after that.
Go to college while you’re young! Travel more! Study abroad….”
Oh if we could really go back to 13 with the knowledge that we have at 40.
Though if you really think about it, the knowledge we have at 40 came from the choices we made at 13, at 18, at 25….
Although I wish I could go back and do a few things over like those listed above, I would not be the person I am today had I not made the choices I made every day before now. Who knows what person I would be today if even one of those things had changed. There is no way to know if it would have been better or not.
I admit that some days I look back and wonder; what could have been? What would have been if I had done this or that??
But as I sit in my back yard, one of my favorite places on the planet, I think to myself that I am pretty lucky. I have a good life; a wonderful family and friends, a good job, a cozy little home that I love. I have had the opportunity to travel and see so many places that I will never ever forget. Through travel and scuba diving I have learned that I am a brave person, that fear exists but it doesn’t have to control our lives, that you find yourself in the adventures you take. Wow, that is something that I needed to be reminded of right this very moment. Being content with life is good, but being complacent is something entirely different.
I am happy with the life I have but I am always hungry for more. This has been a struggle for me at times, when I feel so anxious for change that I feel guilty that maybe I am not being grateful for the things I do have. I have come to learn that it is ok to be happy with life but striving for adventure and for things to be different as well.
This has been an eye opening challenge for me and I am grateful for being given the opportunity to take a look back, to embrace the good I have in my life and to be excited about the future and the next adventure that awaits.
Yesterday was, today is and tomorrow will be; The Good Life.