If you are interested in joining the Love For 30 Project, email me at mythirtyspot [at] gmail dot com and I can get you all of the details. Would love to have ya!
A letter to my 16-year-old self.
Dear Katy,
– Nothing in life is as big a deal as it seems. It goes very quickly and there is very little worth sweating over. You are not Camilla’s ugly best friend. Ok she gets more boys than you and you are in the middle of some serious orthodontic work but you are young, bright and pretty. Work with that because you certainly won’t be all three forever.
– Dump Daniel Harrison immediately. Don’t waste 3 months being stunned that he has ‘chosen’ you because he is the fittest guy in the class and you think you are average. I’ll let you in to a secret; you will give him a blowjob in his parent’s en-suite bathroom 2 days after Easter after which he will dump you anyway, why not beat him to it? (On top of which he will turn out to be a fat fucker in 15 years time, no one stays the fonz forever.)
– Don’t spend your life doing what you think people want you to do. Do what you want to do, because you will come to realise, the older you get, that this is the key to success. Follow your heart, you are 16 and you choices are endless. Shape your future however you want and stop wearing neon cycling shorts, this will only serve to damage it.
-Continue to get drunk, experiment with mind-altering drugs at a ridiculously young age, mixing with the ‘wrong’ crowd and having sexual relations with inappropriate boys, for these are the things amongst the studying, travelling and learning that will shape you into the person you will be in the future. Experiment, play, risk and try but do it knowing your limit and in the company of a packet of condoms and some fake ID.
– Value your friends. The good one’s will be with you all your life and you will treasure them forever. The not so good ones you will be able to catch up with in 20 years times on a thing called Facebook and you won’t even need to pick up the phone.
-Travel the world as much as you can. When you have a year out in 6 years time, enjoy every second of it because it is something you will probably only ever get to do once. By all means spend 90% of your time pissed out of your head but try to squeeze in a bit of culture too, you may look back and wish you were sober more than 4 times in that year.
– Don’t waste a second worrying about having a baby before you’re too old or meeting a man you love, you will have both one day. I promise.
-Spend good quality time with the people you love and try not to get irritated with your Dad when he wants you to sit through another episode of Poirot or has you driving up and down the Finchley Road for 45 minutes looking for a parking space because he fancies a Chinese at the Green Cottage. Time being irritated is wasted time with someone who won’t be there forever.
-Try not to be envious of others. You have plenty and you will never be Cindy Crawford, no matter how much you and @bendylady try. Embrace what you’ve been given. (This includes sleepless nights about having one boob bigger than the other, at 31 you’ll have a boob job anyway – stop sweating it.)
– A good 65% of your boyfriends will be total losers, give everyone a chance but don’t waste your time by selling yourself short. It is not Ok for a guy to call you a f***ing c**t, not when you’re 16 and not when you’re 34. Married men will hurt you, avoid them where at all possible and try to be open minded when it comes to dating, just because a man rides a bicycle and does yoga does not mean you won’t be compatible (Ok you might still be working on that one when you’re 34).
If you’re not happy in your job, leave. Do not fear change. And finishing something does not mean failing, you are not as important to your boss as you think you are and handing in a resignation will not collapse a company. Follow your dream whatever age you are.
And finally on Saturday 11th Feb 2012 the national lottery results will be 1 23 24 31 45 49. Buy a ticket.
See you soon; I’m just around the corner.
Katy.
Katy is a freelance writer living in the heart of London and writes a popular blog, All Sweetness and Life where she struggles to understand sex, dating, relationships and all the nonsense in between! You can also find her dishing out advice in a monthly agony aunt column and airing her views as the sex & relationship columnist at Gridlock Magazine.
Aside from writing, Katy is mildly obsessed with twitter, Bryan Ferry and white wine.
follow me on twitter: @katy_red
blog: All-sweetness-and-life.blogspot.com
Beth says
Awesome and honest post. I loved reading it.