You may look at me and think, “What can a man his age know about being a teenager?” or “What can the instructors today know about being a teenager?”
Well, believe it or not, I once was your age, and, believe it or not, someday you will be as old as I am now.
Teenage life - the most exciting, challenging, dramatic and perplexing phase of our life.
Teenage is the life changing phase of our life, what we are in the future depends upon who we are in our teenage life. The decisions you make between now and then will determine the quality of life you have. Every decision you make right now is affecting your future — the attitude you have toward family, school and church; the kind of friends and the type of entertainment you choose; the role models you follow and the heroes you admire and imitate — all these have lasting results.
Teenage life is like your second birth, you drastically change both emotionally and physically - puberty; and the weirdest and scariest part is that this phase of your life fetches you with a new era of pressures:
Peer pressure, Parents pressure, Popularity pressure, weight pressure, Skin pressure and Future pressure.
They are not fleeting things without impact on the rest of your life. So you have to be prepared to face them the right way.
Everyone wants to succeed in their life, don't they? Even as a teenager, you can achieve success in your life; it really isn't that hard. Follow the steps below, and successful teenage years will follow suit!
Accept the teen life and learn.
Be glad to be a teenager. You can't turn back the hands of time. You can never be a toddler again. You are developing. Accept the teenage life and grow in/through it!
Teenagers are no different from anyone else. They have many of the same problems adults have, but they are less equipped to deal with them simply due to lack of experience. So, you have to learn or be brooded upon as mother hen do to her eggs before the good ones hatch.
Have a good relationship with yourself.
Do you spend more time with yourself than with anyone else? If you think about it, you literally never get away from yourself — so you had better like yourself.
We are not supposed to love ourselves selfishly, but we do need to love ourselves properly.
We are not to spend our time comparing ourselves with others and competing with them because we will never get to know ourselves.
Never compare yourself to those images of models, actors, actresses, musicians, on magazines, posters or TV. They are falsified images - after series of photo-shop effects and make-up by professionals. What you see is not the true person.
You have tremendous worth and value. In fact, you are a great person to get to know. But like everyone else, you have strengths and weaknesses. I encourage you not to major on your weaknesses but to turn them over to Jesus and let Him be strong through them. His strength is made perfect through our weakness.
Learn to get along with yourself. If you don't, you will always have difficulty getting along with others.
When you meet someone who seems to hate everyone and everything, you can be sure that person's self-image is rooted in self-hatred.
We always assume that we have something wrong with us if someone rejects us, but that may not be true — the other person could be the one with the problem.
Sincerely, rejection from peers and adults will come. That shouldn't cause you to hate yourself. We have different ideas, different hair and clothing styles, taste, etc. With all of your heart accept yourself. Don't forget, you are accepted by God and blessed with God-ordained destiny.
Ovecome your past.
This stage you are in right now is a gift from God. So overcome your the past. Are there things in your past that threaten your future, things of which you are ashamed? Have you made mistakes? Have you failed at something in your primary school days? Are there subjects you hate or found difficult in the past?
This is a new stage to change all that.
Being stuck in the past, whether it is the past from ten years ago or the past from yesterday, is just like being stuck in the mud. You may put out all kinds of effort and yet go nowhere. Why? Because God does not want you to drag your past into your future. He knows your past will poison it.
Your past is called the past because it has passed. There is only one thing you can do with your past — forget it! God has forgotten it, and so can you.
Do well in school and Manage your studies
No matter how boring it is now, education will help you be a productive member in society. Strive for excellence in school; try your best, listen to the teachers, do your homework, study, and get good grades. Doing so will help you get into a better college/university, which will enable you to get a great job in the future. School sets you up on the right track!
So, Manage your studies. Your studies is all that matters in the end. Nobody in your school will care to ask you how many friends you had when you were in school or your skin texture. They will just ask you your marks or grades. If you are dreaming of having a good college degree then focus on your studies rather than your popularity.
Figure out your goals in life and work toward them.
Start thinking about careers you would like to be in, but make a good choice based on your interests and strengths. This could be your job for the rest of your life! You could also work towards non-career-related goals, such as creating your own fundraiser, getting good grades in school, joining a team sport, etc. Challenge yourself and you'll be surprised what you can accomplish!
Don't get into any trouble, legal or otherwise.
It could ruin your future plans. Avoid the peer pressure and ditch the cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs. Abide the law and avoid ending up in the back of a police car. If you're being pressured into anything, walk away. If you can avoid these things during your teen years, they're a lot easier to avoid once you're out of high school and away from peer pressure.
Avoid places and situations that make you uncomfortable. By avoiding situations that might tempt you, you can avoid peer pressure altogether. For example, be weary of going to a party without adult supervision or meeting up with people you know do drugs, immoralities, etc.
Be nice to your parents and teachers.
Many foolishly crave for independence and privacy thinking they are adult already. This results to clashes - in school and at home.
You may complain: I get told to act more mature but I still tend to get treated like a kid. No privacy and independence?
Alot of the mollycoddling is necessary. Don’t get offended, accept and appreciate it. So many children out there have no one to protect them. Be happy to have them. Remember, they're there to help you be the best that you can be. Respect them and value their opinions, even if they annoy you sometimes. Keep in mind that they do the things they do because they care about you and want you to succeed in life. You don't get to choose your teachers or your family, but you still have to put up with them. Learn how to deal with people now, because when you're an adult, you don't get to choose your boss or your co-workers, so learn how to respect them now.
Have good friends to help you out!
Friends are there to support you and lift your spirits. Be with people who make you happy, and ditch the ones who don't. Create a group of supportive, loving friends that can help you succeed in life and live your dreams. Find a few really good friends that will stick with you once you leave high school.
Ask yourself if the people you are around are saying anything worth listening to or are doing anything worth your involvement. If not, make some changes in your lifestyle.
Do what you love.
Adopt a hobby; reading, writing, sewing, singing, dancing, playing a sport, making pottery, etc. It will pass time and help you develop your personality. Experiment and discover new things; you might be surprised to find that you really like them!
Get active! Join a sports team at school or out of school.
Believe in God!
Christ lives in you! He commands your destiny. He is your comforter. He is your Father. Remember, He made you, so He knows you better. If you believe in Him, if you stand on his power, no schemes of men or power of hell can hurt you.
Let analyse this:
1peter 1:24-25,For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
If the word of God is in you, you live forever and fulfil destiny!
If God is by your side you will find life easy.
Live life to the fullest!
You're only young for a short time, and before you know it you'll be an adult that will be lying around saying, "I wish I had done this when I was younger."
Be daring, go out into the world and live life! Life is short, so enjoy it while you can.
EndNote:
… you have a God-given right to enjoy your life and to become all that you can possibly be in Christ.
So enjoy the growth process!
Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world… Ephesians 1:4.
Apostle Julius Ikhide-Iyke Etaifo
LiveOutLoud
Nation Of Grace Ministries
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