The teens are our most beautiful years. This is when we start to shape our preferences, this is when we form our character as adults, or when we define our values and our priorities in life. But these are also the most dangerous years, because teenagers are eager to undergo so many experiments that they can easily harm their body and damage their health. Unfortunately, some of these changes are irreversible, so we'd have to live with them our entire adult life.
These are a few considerations coming from my personal experience as a teenager, which I hope to be useful for some of you, so you don't repeat my mistakes:
- You are unique: there's no point in trying to be like your friends, in order for them to accept you in their circle. When I remember how hard I tried to become a smoker for so many years, only to feel myself as being part of my group, where everybody was smoking, I see what a fool I've been. One day I realized that I don't need to smoke to get my friends' esteem and attention. That day, I quit smoking forever, but I left behind 15 years of living as a heavy smoker, which undoubtely left some marks on my lungs and airways.
- Beauty models are fake: don't try to hunger yourself to death for losing weight only to look like fashion models. Those girls are artificial, their so-called beauty looks rather like hunger and starvation, they live a life of sacrifice only to show the world an unreal image of beauty. Keep in mind that beauty comes from inside, and that you can be fat and beautiful, and live a life of happiness, healthy and surrounded by lots of friends. Of course, you need to pay attention to your weight, so you don't become obese, as this has major health implications, like the increased risk of heart failures, lung troubles or diabetes. Whatever diet you may choose, remember to ask a doctor for advice, and try not to exaggerate by following whatever drastic fad diets like the Cabbage soup diet, or whatever other dis-balanced weight loss programs which may harm your metabolism and well-being. Here you may consider asking for specialist advice and even make use of some weight loss clinics, where you'd lose weight under strict supervision of medical staff. Another useful hint, quite controversial but may be worth a try is the body detox via juicing or other methods, which can help you get the toxins out of your body and strengthen your immune system.
- You design your way in life: you can do and you can be whatever you wish. Don't be shy in defining and pursuing your goals. If you want something strongly enough, it will happen for you. Of course, action plays a major role here: that's not enough to want something and to just sit there and think it over and over again. You must stand up and act to make it become reality. Be strong and determined and the whole world will follow your will. All goals are OK, there's no wrong answer or wrong choice here. If your happiness is to have a slim, elegant body and to amaze the world by becoming the next Miss World, then go for it: set yourself a good weight loss plan and a workout program, tone your muscles, learn how to dance and how to speak to a big audience, then join the Miss World contest in your country.
- Anger can be managed: there are lots of anger management programs which nowadays prove that we are perfectly capable of controlling our feelings and our emotions, so with a little bit of reading and exercise, you can become fully aware of your emotions, thus being able to let them flow or control them, so people would actually see only what you choose to show them. Be strong and life will reward you.