1.) Rachel, stop being such a brat to your mom (I’m being nice and not using the other “B” word). Cut that crap out! Seriously, you treat your friends better than your mom. Did you friends carry you inside their belly for 9 grueling months? No, YOUR MOM DID! That’d be creepy and weird if your friends did…but you get my point! Do you have any idea how much discomfort and pain your mom went through to have you?! (Well 24-year-old Rachel now knows, hehe). This woman would give her LIFE for you. You get annoyed when “she acts like she knows everything”? She knows a heck of a lot more than YOU! It’s called experience you teenager brat. One day, she is going to be your go-to gal, best friend, and soul sister. Stop being such a turd or she will remind you years later how big of one you use to be!

2.) Rachel, texting while driving is not cool. Looking at your phone while driving – period – is so stupid! You do not have to be stimulated every single second of the day. Listen to some darn music, think some intelligent thoughts and be okay with a little silence. Do you know how many people you put in harm’s way because you can’t stay off your phone?

  • Pregnant women driving
  • Entire families in one car driving
  • Someone’s child, their “baby”, is driving right in front of you

Can what you have to say really not wait? Is it worth potentially hurting, or even worse, killing someone because you want to let a friend know “on my way”? Not worth it. Stop thinking of yourself and start thinking of all the other precious lives out on the road.

3.) Rachel, stop taking everything so personally. Hurt people, hurt people. Don’t forget that. Nothing other people do is usually because of you. It is because of themselves. Instead of getting butthurt so easily and lashing back, reach out and ask if they are okay? Be a friend and be a person they can talk to. Something you struggle with is realizing that not everything is done to hurt YOU purposely. When someone is unkind towards you, they are giving you a glimpse of the pain they carry in themselves.

4.) Rachel, take that shiny new license you got and put it to good use. Go visit your grandparents who live FIVE MINUTES AWAY. Do you know how much it would mean to them if you would reach out? Do you know how much joy it brings them to hear from you? You won’t learn this for another few years, but you are going to become incredibly close to them. It is going to make future Rachel extremely sad that you waited so long to get to know them… to genuinely get to know them. Stop wasting so much time trying to be cool and impress people you won’t even talk to after high school. Pour some of that love & energy into your family. Do you know how lucky you are that both of your grandparents are living? Stop taking them for granted!

5.) Rachel, stop claiming you are naturally “just a bad student”. You are a bad student because YOU DO NOT APPLY YOURSELF! Did you fail that exam? That’s because you didn’t study. You didn’t even open the dang book and try. Stop spending three hours at the gym… that’s totally unnecessary. Spend an hour and a half there and the other hour and a half should be spent studying. It’s called moderation – try it out you little teeny bopper, you.

6.) Rachel, I get that you like to try different health fads at this age, but packing plain oats in a plastic bag and eating them out of your purse during class time is probably not normal. Your teachers should not be constantly scolding you and saying “Rachel, please stop eating oats out of your purse.” What are you, a flipping horse?!- neiiiiiigh! You most certainly should not be getting detentions because you continue to eat oats out of your purse despite what the teachers say. “I don’t want to slow down my metabolism”. Oh my goodness, thank the lord you will eventually stop doing this. Speaking of your weird health stages you go through, don’t eat almonds out of your pocket at B-dubs because you are doing a detox diet. You are 16 years old…live a little and eat the dang chicken wings. Your friends are laughing at you because it’s WEIRD! 24-year-old Rachel would laugh at you too!

7.) Rachel, stop acting like you have it so rough. You don’t even know what rough is. Sure, you tore your ACL and your soccer dream has died. Yes, you have some pretty bad scoliosis. It is painful, but you do not have it rough.  Instead of moping about the things that don’t go your way, how about look at all the things that go right, eh?! You are so lucky to have the parents & siblings and support system that you have. Your soccer dream was crushed, but your knee will get fixed. Scoliosis is a big pain but you get the spinal fusion surgery which many are not fortunate enough to even get. It’s so easy to fixate on one dream that didn’t go right but keep in mind God will never give you anything you can’t handle. Not to mention so many doors will be opened for you because your original plan didn’t work out. Stop lashing out at your loved ones out of pain and anger.

8.) Rachel, do you think leather couches are cute!? Because you are going to look just like one if you don’t stop going to the tanning bed. Seriously! I get you want a little tan for Prom or Homecoming, but going every other day is stupid. Being tan does not make you look ten times better. I get that it makes your muscles look more defined, that I can’t argue. I know you see other girls with these beautiful golden tans but that doesn’t mean you NEED the same exact look. Learn to admire someone else’s beauty without questioning your own. Overall though, it is just not worth it.Thank goodness one of your best friends finally told you that you look like an Oompa Loompa… or you might still be going tanning to this day.

The next 8 years are going to be some crazy ones for you. You will do a lot right, but also a lot wrong. Have no fear. All the mess ups you experience, you will learn from. That’s the beauty of gaining some experience and heartache, you tend to gain a lot of knowledge along the way.

“The beauty of life is while we cannot undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change so that every new moment is spent not in regret,guilt, fear or anger but in wisdom, understanding and love.”