25 Things I've Learned In 25 Years

I turn 26 today, so I figured why not ring in the new year with a few things I've learned from being alive a quarter of a century. 

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1. Don't try to kill yourself. Just. Don't. 

2. Get a pet. They'll make you feel so guilty that you wouldn't dare kill yourself. 

3. Your parents usually don't turn out to be who you thought they were. What's important is forging new relationships with seemingly foreign people.  

4. Find your passion and cling to it for dear life. 

5. Don't do drugs if you have a family history of alcoholism or drug addiction. Again, just don't. 

6. Life is fleeting and no one's stay here is guaranteed. 

7. Self-harming yourself is never the right cry for attention. People will just call you "stupid" and "manipulative". Try therapy instead. Much more effective, and much less injury in the process. 

8. Find out who you are and live your truth- gay, bi, trans, whatever the heck you are… be you. 

9. Internet friends are real friends. And usually even more reliable than "real" friends. 

10. You can stop being friends with someone for a period of time and then go back to being friends. If you've reached the ripe old age I have, you're an adult. Act like one. If you're not an adult yet, it's never too early to act like one when it comes to your friends. 

11. Sometimes, burning bridges is the right thing to do. 

12. Sometimes, what you really need to do is turn your headphones up real loud and blast some emo music just to get by. And that's okay. 

13. People are going to stare at your boobs a lot when you're a teenager. You have every right to tell them to "fuck off." 

14. If you're ever in a mental hospital, don't be afraid to make friends. They can turn out to be some of the best friends you have ever had. 

15. Challenge yourself to do something every day. Write, make youtube videos, podcast… for me it was photography. I took a single picture every day for an entire year, and that's still one of my greatest accomplishments (plus it looked great on college essays). 

16. Don't fall in love with someone on the Internet. 

17. People who are popular and are going after the isolated homeschooled loner probably don't have good intentions and you should definitely avoid them. 

18. It's okay to stop and start school and then stop and then start again. You literally have your whole life ahead of you to get a degree. Who cares if you're 70 when you finally do? Follow your heart, and don't waste your money if your gut is telling you that you are. 

19. Don't fall in love with your best friend. 

20. Drugs and alcohol are not a coping mechanism. I know this one is repetitive, but it needs to be said. 

21. Just because it's legal for you to drink alcohol doesn't mean you should drink all of the alcohol. 

22. Do literally whatever you want with your hair. Shave it. Dye it. Dye it twenty times. It's your hair and life is too short to be boring with it. 

23. Rehab sucks, but you definitely shouldn't intentionally get yourself kicked out just because you don't want to be there.

24. Don't travel halfway across the country to move in with someone you've only voice chatted with like… twice. It's a horrible, horrible idea. No matter how desperate you are. Better things are on the horizon. 

25. If you start taking other people's advice, even when the advice sounds weak, your life will get so much better. I went from a drug-addicted bum to a freelancing hustler with my own apartment. Seriously, just listen to other people. It will get you so far.