18. You’re not better than anyone. You’re not worse than anyone.
19. Don’t grab the low-hanging piece of fruit just because it’s the easiest to reach.
20. The best people in life are free. Live in the freedom to be real and authentic and exactly who you want to be.
21. People will surprise you. Be nice to everyone you meet. Open your door to people who look different, act different, and think different. You’ll never change, you’ll never grow, you’ll never stretch yourself if you don’t expose yourself to new ideas and new people. You’ll make friends with the most unexpected people in the most unexpected places. Build a bigger table.
22. It’s ok to let people go. In fact, it’s not just ok, it’s healthy. If they want to walk away, open the door, give them a hug, send them on their merry way. But keep the door open, so the right people have a chance to get inside.
23. If someone gossips about you, if someone is ugly to you, if someone is mean to you. If someones slanders your name, or tosses your reputation out the window, it says more about who they are as a person than it does about who you are as a person. Their words, if untrue, don’t deserve a home in your heart, so don’t give them one.
24. Social media, magazine covers, reality tv, filters on Snapchat – those things aren’t real life. Do your best not to confuse the two.
25. Nothing just happens. You have to make it happen. You have to put in the effort for it to come to fruition.
26. If it won’t matter one year from now, it’s not worth your time, or your energy now. If the craziness swirling around won’t matter tomorrow, don’t let it affect your today.
27. Don’t be a copy-cat. I know you want those new shoes because everyone else has them. I know you do. I know you want new highlights because she has new highlights. I know you want to be on the volleyball team because all the popular kids are on the volleyball team. I know you don’t know exactly who you are yet, so you are spending your time trying to find it in other people. You won’t find it there.
28. It’s ok for your pages to be unwritten. You hold the pen. You decide what gets scribbled on those blank pages in front of you. It’s fine not to know what’s next, but it’s not ok to stop trying, to stop working, to stop believing. You are the author of you own story. Make it a good one.
29. Your family will always be there for you. Spend more time with them.
30. Press on. I know you probably won’t believe me, but these really tough moments will become the really defining moments. They won’t break you, but they will make you. They will form you, but only if you allow them to really sink in. Only if you decide to stand back up again. Only if you decide to grow from them and not give in to the pain they cause. These really difficult times will be the seeds that cause you to blossom and become something more if you let them.
31. Getting older isn’t so bad. Love the stage you’re in – and not paying bills and all, but look forward to the next stage too.
32. Give God your heart, your mind, your future. Trust in Him. Believe in Him. Study His word. Everything else about your life will shift and change and move around, but His love will remain steady. Everything else will sway, but His love will stay. No matter what.
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This article originally appeared on Amy Weatherly’s Facebook page.
