Write the Words you Need to Hear

Negativity is everywhere. Teenagers are constantly being bombarded by negative things. There are many things that teenagers are exposed to that put different messages into our heads. Social media plays a big part in sending negative messages to teens. A lot of the time on social media we see many people living these idealistic lives and we start to get jealous and/or insecure. Whether it’s a celebrity or someone that you know, you can never get away from it. School is another source of pressure,  there are different types of people and everyone is just trying to find where they fit in. Sometimes there are people that you look at with envy because you want to be just like them. You want their looks, you want their clothes and you want the attention that they get from others. In this day and age we have so many sources that tell us that we have to be a certain way. The one thing that they neglect to tell us is that we should just be ourselves. Sometimes teens experience bullying in school and in their everyday lives. It’s harder to get away from it now since we have social media. People are more likely to bully others on social media than in person since all they have to do is sit behind a screen and write whatever they want to.   It can be more harmful since people do it anonymously, you won’t always know who is doing the harassing. People bully others on things like the way they look, the way they dress, their sexual orientation, and even about the things that they enjoy doing.   Words can hurt and sometimes we don’t think that we’re strong enough to handle them.  We are strong enough no matter what anyone else tells us.  We are in control of what we do and how we feel.  We need to remember that our own voices can be stronger than anyone else.  We have the power to decide what words make us feel good about ourselves.  A good strategy to use is grabbing a journal, a piece of paper or whatever and start writing down the things that you need to hear, the things that you would want someone to say to you, the positive things that you want to think about yourself,  but you’re not quite there yet.  Some examples could be that your appearance doesn’t define you. We are surrounded by messages that tell us what the beauty standard is. Things like big lips, small nose, long eyelashes, clear skin and small waist aren’t the things that make people get to know you or even define who you are. How you treat others, the things you do and the decisions you make, those are the things that show others who you are. Everyone is beautiful the way that they are. Another thing is to stop comparing yourself to other people. Everyone is their own person, an individual and when we start to compare, we forget about the amazing person that we are and we start to concentrate on negativity, like the things that we don’t have. It will mess with your head and bring up insecurities. When you write down words that you want to hear from someone or from yourself and you read them, you will start to believe them and you’ll be able to brush off negative words without hesitation. Always remember to listen to your own voice, the voice that is filled with positivity and encouragement and when and if you are having a rough day take out that piece of paper and just write the words you need to hear.