This is definitely something spoken about too much, but humour me.
Adolescence. It's characterised by awkwardness. It's the way things are.
As a kid, I could NOT wait to become a teen. The idea of growing up and having responsibilities and freedom absolutely enthralled me.
As a teen, I can't run away from my responsibilities fast enough.
To be fair, I do have more freedom, but I also have about 50 other things on my plate. 50 things too many, really. I suppose 6 year old me imagined that teenagers spent most of their time at the mall.
Things changed quite quickly. One second the most concerning problem on my mind was- well, nothing. I didn't have problems back then.
It's a whole different story now, though.
Exams. Body image. School life. Parents. Extracurriculars. Does the list ever end?
People have spoken up. Social media’s overflowing with self love influencers. But do they ever leave social media? Do we actually practise what we preach?
To be very honest, I'm fickle minded when it comes to self love. One day, my self esteem is at an all time high and the next I stay in bed all day swallowed whole by self deprecation. It's either one of the two. There doesn't seem to be any in between.
Where am I going with this? Here's my point.
THIS is growth. All of us, we're kids with absolutely no care in the world one day and the next, we're awkward not-kids-not-adults covered in acne, worried about that belly pooch you can't seem to get rid of, or the frizziness in your hair that seems to have no cure. People say “love yourself”, but you will have days when you look in the mirror and hate what you see. But that's okay, because you're also going to look in the mirror wearing the new clothes you just bought and feel elated. You're going to work hard, and eventually when you see results you'll be proud. You’ll make core memories during these years that you'll look back on fondly. We have problems. But these are the years of our lives, and the only thing we should be worried about is making them worth remembering.