First off...I know you think your hair makes you look rebellious and devil may care...but really. Just stop with the ponytail.
Now that that's out of the way, here's some advice for ya.
Pay more attention in french class.
Don't quit guitar.
Keep a clean room. Learn to do it now, so the habit will stick later.
Help mom cook dinner. And breakfast. In a few years you'll wish you had a lot more recipes memorised than scrambled eggs.
Don't be so quick to judge. Christian doesn't always mean Republican, Democrat doesn't always mean right.
You aren't always right. Yes, you do know a fair bit of stuff, but there is always more to know, and there is always someone more experienced. Moreover, you come off as a know it all and push away a lot of good people.
Listen before you speak.
Mom is wise. You can stop trying to fool her.
Don't care about your zits. Proper friends don't care what you look like.
Your life is not that hard and you certainly aren't some sort of cool tortutred dramatic person. You're quite lucky actually.
Stop wearing jean shorts...just stop.
Mr Felder is God. Hear his wisdom and know it to be true.
Don't quit tae kwon do.
Learn to properly tie a tie.
You're never too old for anything, no matter what people tell you. Except maybe a crib and diapers. Scooters and ball pits on the other hand are fair game.
Yes, Mr Montague actually is that terrifying.
There is more to music than the Beatles.
No, you can't rap. Don't try.
Yes, your camera actually was that awesome of a gift.
Talk to your grandfather, dang it.
Make an effort to keep clear memories of Kip, Joel, and Lester. They are magical fairies.
Wife beaters are not acceptable to wear to school.
Gifts are more important for other people than for yourself.
No that leather jacket really doesn't work on you.
Accept that your father's puns are actually fantastic.
Apple products will not always be the best.
Nor will John Hiatt.
Your opinion on the Lance Armstrong scandal is just flat out wrong.
Learn all the ways to cook tofu.
Don't let anyone tell you that you aren't a fabulous dancer. Especially someone who isn't dancing.
Seriously though: Don't take yourself too seriously. Your story is just starting; you're just figuring out who you are. Try weird stuff, cultivate wonder and amazement in every part of your life. The world is a wonderful place and you are going to see so much of it. Kiss the girl. Do it the hard way. Go through it, not around it. When you are so tired that you can't think of anything but bed, keep going. When you think its over, that's when it gets interesting. It's okay to lose. It's okay to get hurt. As long as you get up and try it again.
You are going to be amazing. You will make the best friends of your life. You are going to climb Angel's landing. You are going to canoe over a waterfall. You are going to go faster, and further, and harder than possible on you bike. You will get dirtier than you've ever been. You will learn poi, and do things with them that are absolutely beautiful. You will stay up later than you have in your life, and sleep longer than you ever have in your life. You will go swimming in a cave, it will make you colder than you ever have been and probably ever will be. You will save someones life. You will teach kids tae kwon do and mountain biking and canoeing and history and wisdom and literature. You will be the cool counselor. You will be awkward and weird sometimes and cool(ish) and hilarious others. You will learn to laugh at yourself. You'll get hurt a lot (A LOT), and you'll drop a lot (A LOT) of things. You will be the one that keeps running when everyone else is laying down. You will be the first to rise and that last to sleep. You will be sad, your heart will hurt, and it will seem like nothing could ever be okay again. But it will be. It will be wonderful.
You will fly a plane, you will drive a car all alone. You will kill a mailbox (oops!) You will listen to a ton of really loud music. You will accept that you are not the best. You will try to draw a lot, and you will fail. You will also discover sides of yourself you have never seen. You will try to fit in. You will then realize that a) fitting in is stupid, boring, hard, and no way to live and b) that you suck at it anyway. You will write a lot of embarrassing poetry that no one will ever be allowed to read. You will write a story that maybe someday someone will read. You will write a blog that people will tell you is pretty cool. You will take some sweet pictures. You will go to a party in an abandoned castle, and will know absolutely no one at said party. You will make some sweet Halloween decorations. You will wear some incredibly fly clothes. That used to belong to your father, who you will discover is also pretty fly.
You will be that kid. You will weird a lot of people out. You will find people who are screwed up just like you, and you will be screwed up just like them. You will be the ONLY one dancing. You will never learn to throw a football. You will finally succeed at rolling your r's. You will get into a lot of arguments about stupid crap. You will get into a lot of arguments about important crap. You will cry.
You will finally learn to use an agenda. You will finally learn to type properly. You'll dig deep, and find out that there's quite a bit there. You'll also discover you're wrong about quite a bit. You will ski a double black diamond. You will be teased and mocked and hated on and you won't give a single crap. You will completely fail at making a camp fire. You will give a lot of advice. You'll eat a lot of shrimp, popcorn, and brownies. You will love sushi, even though now you think it's gross. You will love spinach, in the same fashion. You will learn to save, and to spend. You will learn how to pack a backpack and pitch a tent. You will learn how to tack a horse. You will learn how to change a tire. You will ride your bike a lot. You will bike commute woot. You will also, on said bike, get wetter than you have ever been in your life. You will learn to make jewelry. You will learn to take apart and fix quite a few parts of a bike. You will get quite greasy. You will also pwn at hide and seek. You will fight zombie-summer campers. You will spar with your girlfriend on a beach and feel like a badass. You will also fall on your face and feel not at all a badass.
You will be the last one to stop swimming in the fall. You will be the last one to stop swimming at night. You will go to a bonfire about as big across as your room. You will amaze californians with your family's skills at glow in the dark night frisbee. You will climb on cliffs in Big Sur, hike the Grand Canyon, and climb a mountain in Zion. You will bike through the desert in Arizona, and get over things that you previously thought impossible. You will also hit about fifty blasting down an Arizona highway, with 100 degree desert air slapping you in the face. You will jump off a waterfall in North Carolina. You will go to the hottest, and lowest place in North America. You will have a panic attack in a Las Vegas casino. You will climb, and run/fall down the tallest dune in the world in France. You will see trees growing in canyons in Bryce National Park. You will visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe. You will visit the Eiffel Tower. You will walk the the Royal Gardens at the Chateau de Versailles. You will weather floods. You will stand up in a thirty-four mile per hour wind. You will walk a tightrope. You will explore a cave in Georgia. You will visit the Alamo. You walk through the Willard hotel, the hotel of the Ambassadors in Washington and one of the classiest places you've ever been, with a weird ponytail, crummy denim jacket and ripped jeans. You will walk among the largest trees in the world in Sequoia. You will learn to skateboard. You will learn to bike in the rain without killing yourself. You will learn to pick locks. You will learn to pick friends. And then you will leave all of this behind and do the hardest thing of your life, you will live in France.
Your story is just starting, and it is going to be amazing.
Now that that's out of the way, here's some advice for ya.
Pay more attention in french class.
Don't quit guitar.
Keep a clean room. Learn to do it now, so the habit will stick later.
Help mom cook dinner. And breakfast. In a few years you'll wish you had a lot more recipes memorised than scrambled eggs.
Don't be so quick to judge. Christian doesn't always mean Republican, Democrat doesn't always mean right.
You aren't always right. Yes, you do know a fair bit of stuff, but there is always more to know, and there is always someone more experienced. Moreover, you come off as a know it all and push away a lot of good people.
Listen before you speak.
Mom is wise. You can stop trying to fool her.
Don't care about your zits. Proper friends don't care what you look like.
Your life is not that hard and you certainly aren't some sort of cool tortutred dramatic person. You're quite lucky actually.
Stop wearing jean shorts...just stop.
Mr Felder is God. Hear his wisdom and know it to be true.
Don't quit tae kwon do.
Learn to properly tie a tie.
You're never too old for anything, no matter what people tell you. Except maybe a crib and diapers. Scooters and ball pits on the other hand are fair game.
Yes, Mr Montague actually is that terrifying.
There is more to music than the Beatles.
No, you can't rap. Don't try.
Yes, your camera actually was that awesome of a gift.
Talk to your grandfather, dang it.
Make an effort to keep clear memories of Kip, Joel, and Lester. They are magical fairies.
Wife beaters are not acceptable to wear to school.
Gifts are more important for other people than for yourself.
No that leather jacket really doesn't work on you.
Accept that your father's puns are actually fantastic.
Apple products will not always be the best.
Nor will John Hiatt.
Your opinion on the Lance Armstrong scandal is just flat out wrong.
Learn all the ways to cook tofu.
Don't let anyone tell you that you aren't a fabulous dancer. Especially someone who isn't dancing.
Seriously though: Don't take yourself too seriously. Your story is just starting; you're just figuring out who you are. Try weird stuff, cultivate wonder and amazement in every part of your life. The world is a wonderful place and you are going to see so much of it. Kiss the girl. Do it the hard way. Go through it, not around it. When you are so tired that you can't think of anything but bed, keep going. When you think its over, that's when it gets interesting. It's okay to lose. It's okay to get hurt. As long as you get up and try it again.
You are going to be amazing. You will make the best friends of your life. You are going to climb Angel's landing. You are going to canoe over a waterfall. You are going to go faster, and further, and harder than possible on you bike. You will get dirtier than you've ever been. You will learn poi, and do things with them that are absolutely beautiful. You will stay up later than you have in your life, and sleep longer than you ever have in your life. You will go swimming in a cave, it will make you colder than you ever have been and probably ever will be. You will save someones life. You will teach kids tae kwon do and mountain biking and canoeing and history and wisdom and literature. You will be the cool counselor. You will be awkward and weird sometimes and cool(ish) and hilarious others. You will learn to laugh at yourself. You'll get hurt a lot (A LOT), and you'll drop a lot (A LOT) of things. You will be the one that keeps running when everyone else is laying down. You will be the first to rise and that last to sleep. You will be sad, your heart will hurt, and it will seem like nothing could ever be okay again. But it will be. It will be wonderful.
You will fly a plane, you will drive a car all alone. You will kill a mailbox (oops!) You will listen to a ton of really loud music. You will accept that you are not the best. You will try to draw a lot, and you will fail. You will also discover sides of yourself you have never seen. You will try to fit in. You will then realize that a) fitting in is stupid, boring, hard, and no way to live and b) that you suck at it anyway. You will write a lot of embarrassing poetry that no one will ever be allowed to read. You will write a story that maybe someday someone will read. You will write a blog that people will tell you is pretty cool. You will take some sweet pictures. You will go to a party in an abandoned castle, and will know absolutely no one at said party. You will make some sweet Halloween decorations. You will wear some incredibly fly clothes. That used to belong to your father, who you will discover is also pretty fly.
You will be that kid. You will weird a lot of people out. You will find people who are screwed up just like you, and you will be screwed up just like them. You will be the ONLY one dancing. You will never learn to throw a football. You will finally succeed at rolling your r's. You will get into a lot of arguments about stupid crap. You will get into a lot of arguments about important crap. You will cry.
You will finally learn to use an agenda. You will finally learn to type properly. You'll dig deep, and find out that there's quite a bit there. You'll also discover you're wrong about quite a bit. You will ski a double black diamond. You will be teased and mocked and hated on and you won't give a single crap. You will completely fail at making a camp fire. You will give a lot of advice. You'll eat a lot of shrimp, popcorn, and brownies. You will love sushi, even though now you think it's gross. You will love spinach, in the same fashion. You will learn to save, and to spend. You will learn how to pack a backpack and pitch a tent. You will learn how to tack a horse. You will learn how to change a tire. You will ride your bike a lot. You will bike commute woot. You will also, on said bike, get wetter than you have ever been in your life. You will learn to make jewelry. You will learn to take apart and fix quite a few parts of a bike. You will get quite greasy. You will also pwn at hide and seek. You will fight zombie-summer campers. You will spar with your girlfriend on a beach and feel like a badass. You will also fall on your face and feel not at all a badass.
You will be the last one to stop swimming in the fall. You will be the last one to stop swimming at night. You will go to a bonfire about as big across as your room. You will amaze californians with your family's skills at glow in the dark night frisbee. You will climb on cliffs in Big Sur, hike the Grand Canyon, and climb a mountain in Zion. You will bike through the desert in Arizona, and get over things that you previously thought impossible. You will also hit about fifty blasting down an Arizona highway, with 100 degree desert air slapping you in the face. You will jump off a waterfall in North Carolina. You will go to the hottest, and lowest place in North America. You will have a panic attack in a Las Vegas casino. You will climb, and run/fall down the tallest dune in the world in France. You will see trees growing in canyons in Bryce National Park. You will visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe. You will visit the Eiffel Tower. You will walk the the Royal Gardens at the Chateau de Versailles. You will weather floods. You will stand up in a thirty-four mile per hour wind. You will walk a tightrope. You will explore a cave in Georgia. You will visit the Alamo. You walk through the Willard hotel, the hotel of the Ambassadors in Washington and one of the classiest places you've ever been, with a weird ponytail, crummy denim jacket and ripped jeans. You will walk among the largest trees in the world in Sequoia. You will learn to skateboard. You will learn to bike in the rain without killing yourself. You will learn to pick locks. You will learn to pick friends. And then you will leave all of this behind and do the hardest thing of your life, you will live in France.
Your story is just starting, and it is going to be amazing.
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