Things that seemed a lot cooler or exciting when you were a teenager

Things that seemed a lot cooler or exciting when you were a teenager then they do when you're an adult:

That friend's dad that would drink and smoke pot with their kids and you

Staying up all night partying
Working
Ted Nugent
Pubic hair
Karate
Making out with a 15 year old


Things that seemed cool when you were a teenager that are still just as cool:

Jurassic Park

Masturbating

Don't Try Suicide

Seems like a lot of people are killing themselves these days. Or maybe it's the same amount, and it just seems like more because some famous people did it. When you see the outpouring of emotion and sorrow over these people, you might think some of it is people just getting in on the drama, or exhibiting some narcissistic tendencies, and that probably is the case in more than a few of them. But for many people, these suicides leave a real hole in their life, and leave them wondering why and sometimes questioning if they want to go on or not. They are left hurting and sad, and wondering what could have been.
The thing is, you don't have to be a rock star to fuck up a lot of people's lives. If you decide to take your own life, you will hurt and scar a lot of people that care about you. You will hurt your family, and God forbid your children. You will deprive the people that love you of you, and you will leave them with questions that can never be answered, and you will take something from them that they can never get back. Don't do that to them.
Okay, that was an unabashed attempt to guilt you into not killing yourself, but it is all true. That said, don't cheat yourself, either. If you are prone to thoughts about it, if you suffer from depression or any mental illness that causes you to consider it, do whatever it takes to remind yourself that it's not always you talking. Your brain and it's mixed up signals and chemical reactions can make you think things are different than they really are. Do whatever you can to remember that. Keep your friends and family aware of what's going on, and let them know the minute you feel like you might be slipping. I know that's easier said than done, but try, because you have so many more moments of joy and triumph left to experience, believe me. Fight for yourself and the people that love you.
And finally, if you are being bullied, or your heart is broken, or things are just totally shit in your life right now, don't just throw everything away for what will amount to a brief moment in your life. Broken hearts heal, school is just a small chapter in your life, and most likely whatever you are dealing with can be fixed or improved upon. Whatever you are dealing with, someone else has dealt with too. Talk to people about it, and you will be surprised at how unoriginal your pain is.
On that front, here is a story about the time I tried to kill myself. It was a wrong decision made in haste at a time when I really wasn't in any shape to make that decision. I am here to tell you that I am so lucky things didn't work out and I got to live the rest of my life. I would have missed out on so many things and memories that I cherish, and you will too.
So if you think you might want to do it, reach out, to anyone that will listen, because there is always someone that will listen.

http://dferrarisstories.blogspot.com/2015/01/that-one-time-i-tried-to-kill-myself.html

For What It's Worth

Here's a little secret about life that many people don't know. If you have half a brain, if you can figure things out and have some sort of ethics, you are a hot commodity. The world literally needs people like you or it will stop working. 
This planet is full of people that don't give a shit. People that don't know, and don't want to know. They skate through life, playing dumb (and sometimes not playing) so that others will do their work for them. The only effort they put into anything is to get out of putting effort into anything else. 
These people tend to resent others that appear smarter or more competent than they are, so they ridicule them from an early age. Sadly, if you have half a brain and all the other stuff, you also get ridiculed by people that are above you in society because those people are insecure and feel threatened and want to keep you down. 
So you end up feeling like you're not worth your true value. You work at your job, and get more and more responsibilities heaped on you because it's easier for your boss to just get you to do it then try to motivate some lout to do their own work. You feel some strange loyalty to your employer to do things right, but even more than that you can't see doing something half assed because what's the point of doing it at all then? You possess logic and empathy and a sense of duty to yourself, rare and admirable traits that often make you feel like a sucker. 
You end up working harder and for less money than you're worth, because whether you realize it or not, all that shit people have been giving you all your life has done exactly what they wanted: you don't know your own worth. 
Like I said, you are a hot commodity. Employers love people like you, hard workers who don't know what they are worth. Lazy employees love people like you, hard workers that do their jobs for them. 
I have been that all my life, but I have never hesitated to ask for raises or promotions or whatever other perks I wanted because I figured out my own worth. I got them every single time. If you can get just a little bit of confidence going, the world is your oyster. Employers will not let you get away, and they can spot people like you when you apply for a job, so don't let them take advantage of you. They actually respect you for asking. It means something to them, you have to prove you have backbone and drive.
Demand what is fair, don't let them cow you into thinking you should be grateful for them letting you work there. You are probably doing a bunch of different jobs that aren't even in your original job description. They need you as much, if not more than you need them. 
I know about this issue on both sides of the fence. I have been in management positions too, and I was pretty much told this exact thing by business owners and other people in management. Also, keep this in mind: I'm a business owner and an employer telling you this. 
So demand what you’re worth, and not just at work, because no one else is going to do it for you.

Friends

One of the things my parents always told me but I had to learn on my own anyway is that you can't go through life writing people off because of one or two disagreeable things. When I was younger, I used to hold grudges, I used to obsess over some small aspect of a person's personality, and I used to throw them in the discard pile. My parents have a lot of friends, and I remember on occasion wondering how they could be friends with some of them when it seemed that they didn't share their core values. Years later, I have come to realize that a lot of things I considered core values were just different opinions about stuff that didn't really matter much. I'm not saying you should hang out with racists or murderers, but no one in the world is going to think and act exactly like you. So you bond and laugh at the things you agree on, and you discuss or overlook the things you don't, because life is too short. You can roll your eyes at some of the things they do, you can laugh at them behind their back once in awhile, but
you can remain friends. The thing I learned is that a lot of my parent's friends that I would have written off years ago are some of the closest friends they have now, and have been there through thick and thin. You get out of friendships what you put into them, and some of the people you toss away so casually might turn out to be there for you when no one else is.

Friend's Accomplishments

If you’re looking for inspiration at times, look to the people you know.  Some of my friend’s  accomplishments:

Beat cancer, addiction, or some other disease or recovered from an accident or overcame mental illness or some tragedy

Changed their careers to something more fulfilling or started their own business

Left a job to pursue their art

Went back to school and got a degree and changed their lives

Got a book published, or CD released, or sold paintings or drawings

Got through a divorce and started their lives over

Did volunteer or charity work and made the world a better place

These are just a few of the things people I know have done, and there are a thousand more things just like it to draw inspiration from, whether you’re going through a rough patch or trying to better yourself.  

And if you asked, I bet there are some amazing things your friends would put on their list about you!

Self Esteem

Does anyone have good self esteem? I don't think so. Some of us do better than others in certain areas, but I don't think there's anyone I know that isn't plagued by self doubt and fear. I'm not talking about people with no sense of who they are, whose delusional ego makes them blind to how ridiculous they act. I'm talking about all of us, perfectly good, kind, interesting, intelligent, funny, loving, caring individuals that for some reason spend some time each day telling ourselves that there are things wrong with us. Things no one else knows, hoping no one else notices, because if they did they would see how fucked up we really are. We can't even take a compliment if someone offers it because we've been programmed to be humble and downplay our pride in ourselves. We are uncomfortable with praise, afraid of the spotlight when it shines on us with admiration, and conditioned to think it's wrong to think you just might be fucking awesome. Still, with all those chains and anchors of anxiety and doubt weighing us down, we still manage to shine, and rise above the shattered and convoluted picture we have of ourselves. Every one of you inspires and amazes me, every one of you posseses qualities and abilities unique to yourselves. Every one of you deserves to start each day looking in the mirror and loving that badass motherfucker staring back at you. The hell with anyone that ever tried to keep you down, that ever damaged your self worth because they were afraid you might outshine them. Let those wounds heal and display the scars proudly. Kick every negative and hurtful person you've been carrying around all these years out of your head and take up residence there yourself. Turn and stare those ancient and irrational fears that you've been dragging behind you in the eye and watch them wither under your gaze. Realize that we are the only ones that can hold us back, and now that we possess that knowledge, we are free to fly as high as we like, lifted upwards by the love we feel for ourselves.