In no particular order:
- Honor your emotions. Cry about it for 30 minutes (or days) and move on.
- Your phone isn’t tripping and his isn’t broken; if he wants to text you back, he will.
- People will suck. It will hurt. You will still be okay.
- Your mom really is your best friend.
- Losing a parent young will harden your heart and leave you with unresolved trauma that pops up in and on the most unexpected ways and days, no matter how many years it’s been.
- Life’s short; eat your dessert first.
- Being the mean girl in the clique is really…mean. And pointless.
- Somebody’s always watching you. Either teach ’em a lesson, or give ’em a show.
- Your work ethic is everything.
- Grandmothers are literal earth angels and of utmost value.
- Summers spent growing up with your cousins are important.
- You make your career; it doesn’t make you.
- Relationship wins over religion.
- Having a teachable spirit is a game changer.
- Always have an attitude of gratitude.
- Work hard and be nice to people.
- Everything that makes you weird can be used to make you great.
- Authenticism is a wildly underrated quality.
- Being smart is very cool.
- Things get better – always. And as long as you operate with love and pure intentions, life will work out for you. Every. Time.
- Papers, assignments, projects, and responsibilities can wait. Late night shenanigans with your best friends can’t.
- Nobody cares. Shut up. Work harder.
- You’re never too old to go outside and play.
- Calm is a superpower.
- God wastes nothing.
**Bonus for 10-year-old me: If you cut your Bratz Styling Head’s hair into an “asymmetrical bob,” it won’t grow back.
X’s and O’s,
JF
BLACK&GIFTED 