15 things I learned by 15.
Number One.
Sparknotes is the secret to life.
Nahhh, I'm just kidding. (Shmoop is way better than Sparknotes.) But really, my first piece of advice is this:
Surround yourself with people that make you comfortable.
I keep talking about my friends and how thankful I am for them, and I want to just say that my best friends are the ones I'm comfortable around. If I'm trying to impress them, maybe they aren't the friend for me. If I'm trying to sell myself short, then maybe they aren't the friend for me.
If I've learned anything within the first fifteen years of my life it's that making friends is really hard. A lot of the times people assume that I'm very outgoing and making friends comes naturally to me, but that is definitely not the case. I've always felt like the odd one out. More often than not, I was the third wheel or the "accidentally uninvited friend." I still feel like that sometimes when deep down I know that my friends love and care about me. All I can say though is that if you're in a position where you're uncomfortable or unsure, take a step back. Surrounding yourself with a community that will lift you up and cheer you on is so dang important. I can't stress that enough. Whether it's one person or two people or five folks or an army, just get yourself a community where you know you belong.
In Mariners Church Junior High Ministry, they have this amazing goal that every person has "a person who knows [them] and a place where [they] belong." I love that so much because that's the definition of community; a person or people who know you and a place where you belong. That's their mission statement. Imagine if that happened and everyone had someone to turn to and somewhere safe to go. The world would be a little brighter. That's why surrounding yourself with good friends is so important. Because community is crucial. It's somewhere you can be yourself unapologetically and there can never be enough of that.
That's my first little bit I've learned, so prepare yourself for fourteen more!
Much Love,
Delaney Miller
