1. These are not the best years of your life. That's what you are probably told over and over again, but it was a lie. God has much bigger and better things ahead for you. When people would offer this platitude to me my heart would sink. I was so lost and lonely as a teenager, if that was the best there was for me, then there was no reason to have hope for the future. The truth is high school is rough. You are surrounded by hundreds (in my school, thousands) of young people ruled by hormones and emotions who don't know who they are. Many of these young people live in homes that are tattered. Some are treated like trash and have no way to escape, so they come to school and take it out on everyone else. Things will get better. You will discover more about yourselves in the next four years than you have in the last 18, I assure you. If you had a great time in high school, that's great, but you ain't seen nothing yet.
2. Let your haters be your motivators. I was bullied for several years as a teenager. I went to sleep dreading seeing my bullies the next day. I woke up seeing their faces in my mind. They had me convinced that I was less than they. In the years since, I have learned that if someone is pulling you down, it is because they are already beneath you. The day will come when you can't remember their faces and you won't know their names anymore. Whatever you do, don't give them the satisfaction of causing you to give up. Current students are now faced with the wild west of social media in which anything goes. When I was a kid I had to dread eight hours of school with my assailants, now it is 24/7. Please know that they only mistreat you because something MAJOR is missing in their lives. They want to shut you down because they feel inferior and fear you will surpass them. The truth is, if you keep your head up, and they don't change, their fear will be realized. The bible says we have to pray for those who persecute us. The reason is simple: they are in trouble. Anyone who has to pick on someone they perceive as weaker doesn't have much of a future ahead if they don't get their life straight. When they pick on you, take it as a compliment you got them running scared. There must be something pretty spectacular about you to have them so intimidated by your future.
3. Most relationships won't last. This goes for all relationships, romantic and otherwise. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but this is actually good news. Change = growth. Yes, you may have some friends from high school that you keep in touch with. Social media makes this much more likely than it used to be. But, you won't be the same person in ten years that you are now, neither will your friends. You will grow up. You will discover who you are. If you and your friend have the same journey, your relationship may remain, but for most, you will find that the things that united you as teenagers were pretty shallow. At some point you will find that there is more to friendship than common interest. You will discover that shared values will trump shared affinity for things that don't really matter. Most couples won't stay together for the same reason. Yes, I know, "but we are different". Okay. Maybe you are right. I'm sure there are thousands of couples waiting to prove me wrong about high school love, but for most it won't last. Don't compromise yourself for someone because you think you have found endless love. Likewise, don't let your heart be broken over love lost and found with someone else. Yes, getting dumped for someone else hurts. But it really isn't the end of the world. More than likely, the same thing will happen in that new relationship as well. Relationships built on hurting someone else have a rocky foundation at best. Keep your head up, buttercup. If someone doesn't recognize your value, that's their problem, not yours. Trust me, it's better to cut those ties now than to waste years on something that wasn't going to work anyway.
There you have it. The reunion was last week, and no I didn't travel 1,600 miles to attend what was effectively a pub crawl with people I barely remember.
My life has progressed quite nicely. I now have a gorgeous husband and what I'm sure is going to be a brilliant son on the way. I have found my calling in life and am pursuing it and I have friends around the world who care for me. I really didn't feel the need to go back. I have proven those were not the best days by a long shot. I hope life turned out well for those who mistreated me. I hope they found whatever it was that was missing that made them so cruel towards me. I'm not angry anymore. They don't control my emotions anymore because I took that power back.
Young friends, God has something so much better for you than you could imagine. Whether you were the valedictorian or the near drop out, there is better coming. Whether you were the star quarterback or the biggest geek in school, there is better coming. Whether you led your prayer club or were the resident stoner, there is better coming. God's plan isn't dependent on which table you occupied in the lunch room. It doesn't matter if everyone was desperate to sit with you or if you were the girl eating in the stairwell alone, He wants to take every experience, every victory, every defeat, and form it into something He can use. Your best is yet to come!
3. Most relationships won't last. This goes for all relationships, romantic and otherwise. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but this is actually good news. Change = growth. Yes, you may have some friends from high school that you keep in touch with. Social media makes this much more likely than it used to be. But, you won't be the same person in ten years that you are now, neither will your friends. You will grow up. You will discover who you are. If you and your friend have the same journey, your relationship may remain, but for most, you will find that the things that united you as teenagers were pretty shallow. At some point you will find that there is more to friendship than common interest. You will discover that shared values will trump shared affinity for things that don't really matter. Most couples won't stay together for the same reason. Yes, I know, "but we are different". Okay. Maybe you are right. I'm sure there are thousands of couples waiting to prove me wrong about high school love, but for most it won't last. Don't compromise yourself for someone because you think you have found endless love. Likewise, don't let your heart be broken over love lost and found with someone else. Yes, getting dumped for someone else hurts. But it really isn't the end of the world. More than likely, the same thing will happen in that new relationship as well. Relationships built on hurting someone else have a rocky foundation at best. Keep your head up, buttercup. If someone doesn't recognize your value, that's their problem, not yours. Trust me, it's better to cut those ties now than to waste years on something that wasn't going to work anyway.
There you have it. The reunion was last week, and no I didn't travel 1,600 miles to attend what was effectively a pub crawl with people I barely remember.
My life has progressed quite nicely. I now have a gorgeous husband and what I'm sure is going to be a brilliant son on the way. I have found my calling in life and am pursuing it and I have friends around the world who care for me. I really didn't feel the need to go back. I have proven those were not the best days by a long shot. I hope life turned out well for those who mistreated me. I hope they found whatever it was that was missing that made them so cruel towards me. I'm not angry anymore. They don't control my emotions anymore because I took that power back.
Young friends, God has something so much better for you than you could imagine. Whether you were the valedictorian or the near drop out, there is better coming. Whether you were the star quarterback or the biggest geek in school, there is better coming. Whether you led your prayer club or were the resident stoner, there is better coming. God's plan isn't dependent on which table you occupied in the lunch room. It doesn't matter if everyone was desperate to sit with you or if you were the girl eating in the stairwell alone, He wants to take every experience, every victory, every defeat, and form it into something He can use. Your best is yet to come!
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