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A Message To an 18-year-old From an 18-year-old

A truth that every person under 18 needs to know

By Carlos VelascoPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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Photo by Noelle Otto from Pexels

In 4 months I’m turning 19, and I have to admit that this stage of my life has been the time that I have learned the most: academically, culturally, socially, spiritually, and most of all, personally.

In these 8 months of transformation, I’ve come to realize something, that I consider being important to share because everyone I know that is my age tries to make the impression that we have life figured out, but the reality is completely different.

We don’t know shit about life

That’s the truth.

We are too young to already know how everything works. Or how are we supposed to think. Or already have solved what we want to do with our lives. That’s why is so stressing and overwhelming the fact that the majority have to make that decision as to what college degree we want.

We are just doing what we think is right for us. We don’t know what’s right or wrong for certain. But we are pressured by society that:

  • You need to work because now you are an adult. You have to start making your own money and be independent.
  • You need to enter college because if you don’t, then you will not have a trustworthy future and end up living in the streets.
  • You need to fulfill your parents’ expectations because then you will be considered a failure and disappointment to the family.
  • You need to…

Can we please just shut it all off?

We are not here to accomplish anyone’s expectations. We are here just for one reason. Living.

You should enjoy your youth with…

Responsibility. Ambition. Hunger.

You should enjoy that you are still young but at the same time, this is the perfect time to start investing in your future.

It’s the perfect balance between enjoying your friends, your life, and the things you have right now, and the actions that will allow you to get stronger mentally, emotionally, and physically in the future.

This is the stage in our lives that we have to build towards success, not achieving success at all.

But what about those Tik Tokers that are 15-years-old and making thousands and thousands of dollars?

First of all, comparing yourself with other people will only bring you negativity, and that’s something you don’t want to attract into your life.

Second of all, I know some of them made the conscious choice to work their asses off so hard that they are where they are at. And some of them were born in circumstances where they could just receive everything without even asking.

But, that’s a life you want to live? Really? Not having to work for anything and just having all served on a golden plate? Does that sound exciting to you?

If you want to be successful and have some accomplishments along the way, you’ll have to earn it, and trust me, is not easy, that’s why is so god-damn satisfying when you finally get there because it’s going to be no-ones responsibility but yourself that you get where you wanted to be.

Remember: you don’t have to know shit either

As I said, this is a building process, but it’s also a discovery journey.

It’s the time that you will know what brings joy to your soul and what doesn’t. You will unravel what do you like doing and what are your unique traits and talents that you can provide to the world.

Using my example, I don’t even know if what I’m supposed to be doing is writing articles here, but I do it because writing is one of the things that I like most doing, and because I believe that trying to make income writing is the right thing for me. I’m fully aware of what I need to do, and I know I will succeed, but that’ll take time. In the present moment, I need to build the foundation of my writer achievements, and that involves not having a lot of views or reads right now.

Nonetheless, I’m willing to face the biggest failures to learn how to construct the biggest monument.

And that’s also what you’ll need to accept if you want to be successful. You’ll mess up, actually, it’s sort of necessary for you to mess up. There are life lessons that can’t be learned without failure, and this age is the perfect time when we can learn those lessons (Quick note: failure doesn’t exist as we know it. I will make an article about it, but that’s for a different time).

So, if you want to enjoy your life right now as a young adult, just remember, don’t get pressured by your loved-ones expectations, they just do it because they care about you, but at the end of the day, try going your own way, you’ll learn a lot of things by yourself, and ultimately, will be a beautiful story to tell others.

Invest in your future self, you could start working out, eating healthier, learning a new skill, and balance that with enjoying your life with what you have right now, like going out partying with your friends, doing that leisure activity that brings you comfort, or watching your favorite Netflix movie.

At the end of the day, is your life. Eventually, you’ll do whatever you want. It’s your life and yours only. But at least, I hope I could give you some insight or a new perspective on this aspect of life.

I’m the same age as you, so leave me your story down below on how did you get here or if you want to tell me something else, I’m sure I can relate to your history and I would love to read you.

Thanks for reading. See you soon!

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