(An non-exhaustive list of things I wish I had figured out twenty years ago.)
It’s okay to:
- say I don’t know.
- say I was wrong.
- dance even if you suck at it. Especially if you suck at it.
- be gay.
- be alone.
- be unpopular, because you will always have at least one true friend cheering for you even if you don’t realize it at the time.
- run at your own pace.
- not fit societal beauty standards.
- not want to fit societal beauty standards.
- depend on other people.
- not be okay.
- make mistakes. In fact, you’re better off making mistakes, it’s how you learn.
- not like things (as long as you’re not a dick about it).
- like things, with enthusiasm and passion, even if other people don’t understand.
- not clean your plate.
- sweat, and have pimples, and fart, and grow body hair. You’re a goddamn human being.
- be a dork.
- spill food on your shirt. It doesn’t mean you’re a slob or a pig, and there’s this awesome stuff called Oxi-clean.
- cry.
- be yourself, once you figure out who that is.
5 replies on “It’s okay to…”
be _sad_.
i have a friend whose daughter is 14 and in cherry creek school district. she’s extremely bright, talented, sensitive and artistic. and, as you can imagine, she’s having a horrible time. we all sat her down this past weekend and told her that it was OK to be miserable, cos high school sucks, and she’s smarter and more sensitive than 98% of the ppl she goes to school with. as kennedy says, school is state sanctioned torture for teenagers.
if your life is shit, it’s OK to be sad. nobody says that anymore. instead, they medicate you as if you’re sick, when you’re rightfully depressed cos get bullied every day.
life sucks. sometimes it’s good, but a lot of times it’s really bad, and it’s OK to not be happy all the time.
Exactly. It’s okay to not smile when someone gives you a shit sandwich.
Amazingly said. <3 Happy birthday (okay, I may be a bit late… but still). ;)
Thank you! :)
Very well said. I wish I could convince myself to believe it all the time!