A Letter to my Teenage Self.

What do you get when you mix braces, glasses, crazy shyness, goody-goodyness, bushy eyebrows and straight A's? 

You get teenage Kirsten. 

Okay, I really wasn't QUITE as nerdy as I just made myself sound. Promise. But...pretty close. At least I was athletic. 

I loved my childhood and high school years. I honestly wouldn't change a thing. As the saying goes, I wouldn't be who I am today if I didn't go through that awkward braces AND glasses thing...at the same time. 

I stayed out of trouble, had awesome experiences, and grew up in a happy home. 

But if I could write myself a note of advice and pass it back to teenage Kirsten, this is what it would say: 

First of all, enjoy being a kid. Yes, even as a teenager. Embrace the silliness. Eat too many cookies.  Laugh hard, uncontrollably, and for no reason with friends. Lose track of time. 

Don't take so many prom pictures with your date. Sure, take a few, but take most of them with your girl friends. Those are the ones you will hang up in your college dorm room, two boyfriends later. 

Be less selfish. 

Enjoy mom's cooking. Learn how to cook with her! You may get sick of some of those "same old" meals, but those recipes will mean so much to you once you live on your own, thousands of miles away from home. Thank her after every meal. 

Befriend more people in school. Don't wait for them to befriend you first. 

Push yourself harder in sports. Your work ethic in sports evolves into your work ethic in a future job. Don't take shortcuts or "just get by". 

Also, you WILL have conflicts with a teammate/coach. Learn from it. Have patience. Keep your cool. You will have conflicts with future coworkers/bosses someday, and you can't just "quit the team (job)" when you don't get your way. Well, you can, but that's not usually the route you want to take.  

Go ahead and date if you want. You'll learn a lot. Just be careful. 

Take your faith seriously. Start growing it now. Your college years will soon really test you. 

Don't be embarrassed about taking that job at the Garbage/Recycling plant. That high school job of learning to drive a forklift will get you your first "career" job with your dream company. Also, it's a pretty bomb story to tell. What 16 year old girl learns how to drive 8 pieces of heavy machinery!? 

Smile big in that sports photo when you have the big gap in your teeth in the middle of all that orthodontic work...sure it's not cute. But neither is an awkward smile hiding your teeth!

I don't know what I could tell you to be more confident, because I know it comes with time. But know that life has many huge adventures for you, high school is just the training wheels. 

So start getting out of your comfort zone now. Some of the best parts of your next 10 years happen there. 

Stop worrying! Yes, there will be some challenges along the way, but you get through them. And you'll become a better, stronger person because of them. 

Just trust me, you're going to have a pretty fun life with lots of adventures and happiness. And I'm speaking from only 25. I hope 80 year old Kirsten will tell us the same thing :)