Dear 15 Year Old Me Tag

• Post the tag and image above
• Mention the creators of the tag and link back to their blog
• Thank whoever nominated you and link back to their blog
• Nominate 5 other bloggers that you love and notify them by commenting on their latest post

This tag was created by Everyday Magic With Jubilee and Mom Life With Chiari. You can click on the highlighted names to check out more inspirational posts from their blogs. Make sure to tag them in your post so that they can read your letters of encouragement.

Thanks to my favorite blogger friend, Jenni, for nominating me for this tag! You guys should definitely check her out, her posts are really inspirational and just put me in such a positive mood. Also, her Frank Body reviews are top notch.

This is actually my first ever tag and it couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. I’ll be 25 this Saturday!!! So, this is me looking back ten years ago, which is insane!

I moved from New York to North Carolina, and it was such a huge culture shock. I was ten when we moved, about to enter the 5th grade. I went from having Guyanese, Puerto Ricans, Jamaicans, etc., students in my class, to me being one of the four brown people in the entire school. My first day of class, I was called a sand n-word. I was so shut off and depressed, but at the time my parents and I really didn’t know about mental health, so I was just more “emo” to them. Skip to age 15, first year of high school.

Don’t be hard on yourself because…

You don’t fit in. Girl, let your weird flag shine, you’ll make friends with people who like the same things. Geek out about video games, anime, Bollywood, Spanish music you can’t understand, Shane Dawson (I’m an OG follower thanks), makeup, blogging, and so much more. Don’t hide your interests from people, and pretend you like something you don’t. All that’s going to do is make you feel bad and fake. Just be yourself, who cares if people don’t like you, at least you’ll like you.

The relationship you’re in…

Is one-sided sis. You’re young, don’t focus on the one guy that doesn’t like you for the sole reason that you aren’t the same religion and skin tone as him. Focus on having fun with your friends, that’s the best relationship in your life right now. One day you’ll meet a guy…okay, multiple guys, and..none of them will work out. But what matters is that it really doesn’t bother you, because you have your girls and there’s always laughter whenever you guys hang out. You’ll realize chilling with pizza and murder documentaries with the girls is what heaven actually is.

You will get through this because…

Our life mantra is “go with the flow”. Literally will be your year book quote. You might feel down for a bit, but you’ll always pick yourself back up and find the fun in life. That’s your best trait girl, keep going. What happens, happens, there’s nothing you can do but work through it and get to a better place.

Don’t get caught up in thinking…

That you’re going nowhere in life compared to the people around you. You’re smart, everyone has a different path. Sometimes, some people know exactly what they want at age 15, most people don’t. And that’s totally fine! There’s so much for you to experience and see, that will help you find out what you want in life. You shouldn’t feel depressed because you can’t think of what you want to be in the future, go with the flow, you’ll end up where you want to be! Focus on what’s going on in the now, enjoy it, remember it.

These experiences will help you learn…

To be content and happy with your life. You’ll learn that you don’t need to have what everyone has or be just like them. You’re content with your life, and you as a person, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. When you finally find that mindset, your life will be so much better. Being happy with yourself and how you are, will be so much better than caring about what people who don’t care about you and judge other people all day think. Follow your own path, and it might surprise you how easy it is to walk.

It’s crazy to think it’s been 10 years, since I was this girl. I was such a quiet, wallflower type of person. I never raised my hand in class, had really low self-esteem and virtually no confidence. I had some friends, but I hid the things I really liked, because I thought that would make me weird, and people would judge me.

Fast forward to 25, and I think I’m over-confident, won’t shut up, definitely an extrovert, and make sure I let people know my weird interests, right off the bat. Talk about a change! My mental health is in such a better place, and I’m definitely more positive in life now. I’ve made great friends, just by being myself. They accept me and it’s great being able to talk about whatever weird interests I have and they’re actually interested. I wish I had known that when I was younger, but hey, better late than never.

I’m really happy I did this post, it really helped me see how I’ve changed in decade. Gosh..a decade..and I’m about to be a quarter of a century years-old. Well, can only get better from here! Thanks again Jenni for nominating me for this post, really enjoyed it!

As for my nominations, here are the bloggers that I think would have some really interesting things to say. No pressure to do it of course, just a fun look back at the lovely age of 15:

My Nominees:

1. Chocoviv at Chocoviv’s Lifestyle Blog
2. Sypatigas at A Little Bit of Everything
3. Sanne from Bottle of Happiness
4. Franny from Glow with Franny
5. Dana Maye from Dane Maye Blog

Here’s a clean slate, for anyone, even if I didn’t tag you:

• Don’t be hard on yourself because…
• The relationship you’re in…
• You will get through this because…
• Don’t get caught up in thinking…
• These experiences will help you learn…

Thanks for reading!