8 Reasons Why I’m Thankful for Being a Hot Mess
I could complain all day and all night about how much it sucks to be young. Most of the time what it means to be young is being broke, powerless, broke, constantly demeaned, broke, totally unexperienced in the basics of adulthood and broke.
With all of this resting on your shoulders, it can be pretty hard to feel grateful for anything. But despite my belief that these are definitely not the best years of our lives, I do think that I (and all of you too) have quite a bit to be grateful for.
And if ever you find yourself sitting in your closet sized bedroom, fretting because you feel that you aren’t ready for whatever life throws at you, I want you to remember some of these points and feel ok. Because the truth is you are, you really are ok.
1. We are children of the information age
It’s hard to imagine because this is how we have grown up and this is all we know, but there was a time when Donald Trump’s pussy-grabbing comments never would have become public knowledge. We probably wouldn’t know about Hillary’s emails and we definitely wouldn’t know about Blac Chyna’s baby.
Sure it’s easy to say that you would rather live without this knowledge anyway but how cool is it that you can learn absolutely anything just by turning on your iPhone? And in addition, how cool is it that you even have an iPhone at all?
2. You have more power than you think
I know this contradicts what I said before, but just because you feel powerless doesn’t mean that you are. At least not completely. You look the most recent election and you feel hopeless. You think about the disastrous economy that we’ve been left with by the baby boomers and you feel helpless. The drought in California seems to never come to an end.
But here’s the thing, we live in a time where (legally at least) anybody can vote regardless of their gender or race. Because of the above mentioned information age we know what is wrong with the economy, we know the truth about global warming. Information is power and it is that power that will allow us the opportunity to one day fix it.
3. I’ve made mistakes and learned from them
I have been told that I am too young to have regrets but in my experience no one seems to have more regrets than the millennials. That’s partially because our elders are self righteous and definitely because alcohol is delicious. What you all probably know but more than likely forget is that dwelling on your mistakes is completely pointless. All you can do is learn from them and do differently next time. And that’s what’s so great about being the age you are, you have had plenty of time to fuck up now so that you won’t have to do so when you’re 45. Not as cute.
4. Your peak is whenever you want it to be
I am a firm believer that your “peak” occurs whenever you decide it does. After all, who would know better than you? Be brilliant, look hot and believe that you are the most fabulous person around here and that is exactly what you will be. You peak whenever (and as many times as) you want to.
5. You’ve made memories
Cue the grilled cheddar cheese but it’s true. Everything that you have lived, everything that you have done whether good or bad is a part of your life. And even that embarrassing drunken night, that failed fuck up of an ex, that scarred knee that never fully healed are all things that are hard not to look back on with at least a sarcastic smile in the grand scheme of things.
6. You’ve come a long way
Seriously, give yourself some credit. You are not who you were in middle school, high school, college or wherever you may have come from. Your body, brain and spirit change drastically over the course of your life time and I am willing to bet my emergency rent money (okay not really but you get it) that you are better than you were before.
7. You have a long while in front of you
Even if you aren’t there yet, remember you have so much time! That’s the awesome thing about being young, we don’t have to be where we need to be just yet. We can work on ourselves. We have time to grow and learn. And it’s scary but it’s also really comforting to think about the fact that we have no fucking clue what is going to happen next.
8. You are not alone
We are all right there with you babe. You will get there.
