These are the things I wish somebody had told me when I was 18:
* You have immense strength. Trust it.
* We are all born with instincts. We all learn impulses. Learn to distinguish the difference between them. Trust your instincts. Be more cautious with impulses.
* Pain, trial and struggle are part of life and character building. Embrace the bad times as well as the good.
* Matthew 12:34 says "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." and Proverbs 23:7 says "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is." The heart is the heart of the matter. Be honest with your heart, be generous, even if it hurts to do so. Coach your heart to be kind, content, peaceful and to assume the best in others. Kind words and thoughts reap benefits far greater than you imagine.
* Smile. People REALLY don't expect it. Its a horrible cliche…yet so true!
* If you see a woman with gorgeous eyes, a child who behaves well, a cute pair of shoes, TELL the person. Its delightful to spread joy in this way. And delightful to be the recipient.
* Make no mistake, there are those in the world who WILL give you a label. You are not required to accept it. What other people think of you doesn't in any way have to define one single thing about you.
* Be on time.
* Love is a VERB. It is not what you feel, but how you act. Understanding this will open your heart and your life to a multitude of things that cannot even be seen if you are waiting to feel something before acting.
Felecia
http://chksngr.blogspot.com/
I am gathering wisdom from the far corners of the earth to give my older daughter, Emma, as she graduates from high school. What would you say to her? Or to your own 17-year-old self? You can submit your advice until June 4 ((instructions here) and 37 of those will be posted over the next 37 days, one each day, culminating in a free e-book of all the submissions after her graduation on June 14th.