While the adolescent years are a time of growth and exploration, one of the disadvantages of this phase of life is that adolescents don’t typically have alot of perspective – that is, hindsight or foresight. To be fair, it is almost impossible to have a realistic expectation of what the future may (or may not) hold when you simply haven’t had alot of life experience yet. It is only the “here and now” that seems relevant, and many have not developed the coping skills needed to manage emotionally turbulent experiences that often accompany this phase. Admittedly, it can be a pretty tough time.
But as time goes on, one develops resilience and perspective. And after going through the adolescent phase with my own two daughters, I now realize how incredibly helpful hindsight and foresight would have been to me as a teen, back in those formative years.
So, knowing what I know now, this is what I would tell my adolescent self – with love and acceptance.
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