Firstly, it's my 19th birthday today!!!! I would be excited until I realise that it's my last 365 days of being a teenager... After that, I'm an adult in my 20s... Terrifying!

I did one of these last year [18 Things I Learnt.] and a lot of my readers seemed to love it, so I thought I'd do another one. 

1. It's okay to leave - you don't have to explain if you want to leave anyone, anything or anywhere that makes you feel like shit. It's not going to be easy; fuck, it might even be one of the hardest things you ever do but it will all be worth it.  

2. Learn to know who you are - not that you love to wear pink or anything superficial; but learn to know who you are culturally, in your relationships, sexually, and your gender. You are the one that gets to define all of those things (and others) for yourself. Also learn that these things may change as you grow and learn more, but that's okay. Manage to deal with these changes accordingly. 

3. Be accountable for your actions - this means owning up when you fuck up. Only you can seek atonement for your own fuck ups. You will need to learn how to defend yourself, stand up for yourself and acknowledge your own mistakes.

4. Let people have their own thoughts of you - people will probably call you crazy, slutty, a whore, dumb, ugly, fat - sadly, the list goes on... We live in a crazy world where people think they can call you names to make themselves feel better; it's an imbalanced and unjust world that we live in but the more we ignore it, the more we can hope that it disappears. You are not crazy. You are not slutty. You are not a whore. You are not dumb. You are not ugly. You are not fat. You are you, and now it's time to own who you are!

5. You are going to have moments of unbearable pain - it takes time to learn how to heal yourself; sometimes it will leave scars and sometimes you will feel incomplete but think of these as battle-wounds. These are evidence of how much wiser you are, cherish and honour these scars. Let them be a reminder of your growth journey. 

6. You are also going to have moments of unbearable loneliness - this involves learning to love being with yourself, because ultimately there is no one else in the world who has the potential to love you like you can love yourself. Turn the feeling of loneliness into a moment of soothing solitude. 

7. University is cool - it is an accomplishment to say that you attend/graduate from university but it does not make you better than anyone else. It doesn't even make you necessarily more intelligent than anyone else. 

8. Never take validation too deeply - never let something you see on social media dictate who you are as a person. We live in a hegemonic society, but we should never let it take control of us. It is important to find the ratio between how we impact ourselves versus how we let others impact us. 

9. Write a letter - we text and rely on social media too often to see how someone is. The truth is, for the most part people aren't themselves on social media. Write a letter to someone, whether it be a close friend, distant friend, yourself, anyone... Grab some paper and a pen and poor out your feelings, ask how they are, be honest. 

10. Ask people how their day is going - ask with full soul intention of finding out how their day actually is. Ask you friend, a co-worker, a teacher, a retail employee, whoever. Just ask. But after you ask, use that soul intention to listen. 

11. People will enter and exit your life - just because someone leaves your life, doesn't mean they weren't important. Every single person that enters your life, enters for a reason. And every person that exits your life, exits for a reason. It's okay to miss them, but it's also okay to not dwell on them not being around anymore. Look around at who is still in your life and remember how important they are.

12. Tea is amazing - I never understood the obsession with tea... I promise, there isn't anything much better than coming home after a stressful, busy or hectic day at work/school/etc. getting into your pyjamas, cuddling into cosy blankets and having a hot cup of tea. 

13. Be careful who you let close to you - a good friend can break your heart just as much (or sometimes more) than a boyfriend/girlfriend. I have two close friends who mean the world to me and I wouldn't change them for the world. 

Following on from that, 14. Treat your best friend like gold - bring her flowers or her favourite drink. Make her day special and remind her how much she means to you.

15. Wear red lipstick - it will always make you feel more confident. 

16. Don't be afraid to ask for help - whether it be help from a university tutor, class teacher or a close friend, there is nothing wrong with asking for help.

17. Some people won't like you - and that's just how life works. You don't need those people in your life.

18. Say what you need to say - your stories, opinions, insights, they all matter. Even if you don't think so, share them with your close friends.

19. You have worth - you are inherently valuable. You have so much worth and you are in no need to ask somebody else's permission for this.