a simple plea

Dear Teenager,

Yes, life can sometimes suck.
Yes, things can be so difficult that you may wonder, 'Why should I even bother?'
Yes, people are frustrating, hurtful, and often focused on extremely petty matters.
Yes, a lot of 'fakeness' and evil exists in this world.

But there's nothing you can do to change this! No matter where you go, no matter how far away you get from where you are now, these negative aspects will follow you.

It's simply a part of life.

Therefore, there's no sense in whining all the time: there's nothing you can do about it. However, what you can do is change the way you choose to live your own life.

Find the things that make you happy! Look around. Something exciting and beautiful is happening every second. Sometimes, it really is the little things.

And I know this is easier said than done, but please STOP with the constant self-deprecation. You don't give yourself enough credit! You, yes you, have so many brilliant talents and positive attributes. In fact, many of them you may not even realize you have. But other people do! Though no one ever compliments you on them or mentions them, I GUARANTEE there is someone out there who sees the beauty in you. Believe me.

And stop comparing yourself to others! Everyone is so diverse and unique that you should never be allowed to even THINK of comparing yourself to someone else. I too know this can indeed be a difficult task, but trust me--life really is so much better when you give up all your self-loathing and the constant comparisons to others and just go out there thinking, "I am myself. No one can take that away from me."

No matter what society or another person may tell you, we are ALL intelligent, gifted, capable human beings.

We are ALL beautiful.

Please, please, PLEASE stop constantly comparing yourself to others and commenting on all your faults.

Now, don't misinterpret my message...I'm not saying that we should NEVER feel bad about ourselves. Of course, there will be various letdowns and upsetting occurrences in in our lives..and we can't always control those low feelings.

My message is to stop allowing this type of attitude to be a part of your daily life.

Who KNOWS what adventures you could be having instead!

So, get out..break out!

Go forth and seek new worlds...even if they're as far as your own backyard.

It's all out there waiting.

The first step really is quite simple: just give yourself a bit more credit.

'There's a lot more to you than there is to you...'

Your fellow teenager and friend,

Brittany