"Sixteen Things I've Learned in Sixteen Years of Life" by Inspired Spaghetti

#1: The people that you surround yourself with, can positively or negatively change the kind of person you want to be. I have learned that it is important to stay true to who myself by finding people who share similar goals and values as me.

#2: It is important to always be open to new opportunities because experiencing many things will help you in the long run by aiding you to discover your interests and passions. I learned that by soaking all life has to offer like a sponge does with water, you can learn a lot and meet amazing people on the way.

#3: Staying organized is key to a productive life. By staying organized, I feel that I am able to reach my goals with mental ease. I learned this by taking hard course loads, and my desire to succeed in these classes inclined me to find a productive way to find success.

#4: Spend money on experiences, not tangible items. I feel that I constantly want to spend my money on the things that give me immediate satisfaction, but I’ve learned to be more minded of the future which allows me to want to save for future satisfactions such as travel and concerts. In the long run, you will remember the memories retained by experiences.

#5: Worrying about what other people think of you, will keep you from doing the things you love. I learned that anything I do will be accompanied with varied opinions. There is no way I can please everyone with what I do, so I might as well please the most important person, that being me. By doing what I love to do freely, the happiness I feel from my free will, will outweigh the negative opinions others have to say about me.

#6: Music is one of the best ways to relieve stress. I learned this is a crucial method for stress relief when having a bad day or a hectic schedule because it gives your mind a way to relax. I feel that ways such as this to gain small breaks in the day is important for anyone to maintain their sanity while either very busy or in need of relaxation.

#7: Comparing yourself to others is a vicious cycle of disappointment that will never end. I learned that there is always going to be something that you feel you lack that you believe someone else had. I think it is important to remember that jealousy works the opposite of what you want it to.

#8: I learned that sleep is one of most important needed to have a balanced lifestyle. Although often times neglected, sleep is so crucial to anyone.

#9: Eating healthy and exercising is a key part of anyone’s lifestyle. I learned that when I am conscious of what I am putting into my body, I have more energy and I am in a better mood. I also believe that exercise is an amazing way to reduce stress and detoxify your body. Overall, these two factors I have found out are very important to encourage, now matter how drastic the changes are in comparison to your current lifestyle.

#10: I learned that knowing your goals and understanding how you can achieve your goals will make the actions you take the most productive. Throughout my high school career especially, I have learned that having a set view on what I want to achieve, helps me to understand the most productive way to reach my goals and aspirations.

#11: Always have a class half-full mentality when tackling difficult problems, will help them easier to overcome. Life is full of rough events and disappointments, and having a positive attitude about even the work things in life will allow you to expediently reach your goals.

#12: School is very important and being open to it will allow you to learn more about the world around me. I used to think that all of the core classes were wastes of my time, but now I understand that without my trial and error of those subjects, I do not think I could have ever realized my love for writing.

#13: Make more friends than enemies. In the long run, I learned that it is better to make positive connections with people, so people around you have a positive image of you.

#14: Never keep any emotions bottled up, it is important to always express them to others around you. I learned that if your feelings do not hurt the people around you, then it is very unhealthy to keep your feelings inside your head.

#15: Never be afraid to question things. I learned that is very ignorant accept everything around you as the truth because according to Thoreau: conformity is death to society.

#16: The final thing I learned is that it is important to always take chances because if you don’t, you won't learn anything. I rather know I took all my chances I could have taken, rather than regret the chances I was took afraid to take.