Congrats! Sixteen years old!! This is the age we all wanted to be when we were younger. It's the age where we feel like everything significant will happen. Where, when we're older, we look back and say, "That was one of the best years of my life." There is so much pressure at the age of 16. And I just want to say, between you and me, not to let all the pressure get to you. No, we dont need to have our life together, or be out having fun every night. Just enjoy the freedom. I mean, we're almost adults. . . Isn't that crazy? This is one of the very last years we'll have where we can be naive, be stupid, when we're not quite child, but not quite adult, one of the few years before we leave our parents' house and make something of ourselves in the real world.
I feel like we all expect something to happen on our birthday, especially the significant ones. To wake up that day and feel different. But every year, we are disappointed. And maybe I'm imagining it, but. . . would it be weird (currently writing this on my birthday) to say that I do feel a change? Nothing drastic, just a subtle shift. In how I see the world and myself. I think I'm just more. . . aware.
And while I'm still figuring out exactly what everything means to me, I've also realized I've learned a lot of important lessons. Some were obvious, some I only noticed later, and some I learned through the guidance of others, but together they shaped who I am today. Below, I've compiled a list of some of those life lessons. I've also put a little photo walkthrough of me at every age, from baby to now, just to remind myself just how much I've changed over the years.
