For Tweens and Teens-Things You Won’t Learn in School, but That You Need to Know
Posted on September 29, 2012 by Valerie Consoli, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Not everything you need to know will be taught to you in school.
You can learn a lot in school. Every teacher that you spend time with during your school days is a specialist in his or her area. Be it math, science, English, history; each of them can impart something special and important to you. Each teacher can pass on information that may come in handy later on in life. You probably know that already. I bet there is something you don’t know however, that you are a specialist as well. You are a specialist in the area of you.
In school you spend so much time learning practical, essential lessons. Later on in life however, you sometimes begin to ask yourself things like “Why didn’t they teach me that in school?!” It’s true. Not everything you need to know will be taught to you in school. You may not realize it yet, but you will spend your entire life attending another school. A school everyone attends, you don’t have to apply to go there and you can never ever drop out. Welcome to the School of Life.
In the School of Life, you are the specialist. You are both teacher and student in the subject of You. This is a school you begin to attend from the moment you are born, and it continues as long as you live. It is within this school that you will learn everything that wasn’t taught to you in conventional classrooms. These are what are called Life Lessons. There are so many Life Lessons that you will learn, it is impossible to cover them all here, so let’s just talk about some important fundamentals that will help you in the School of Life. These are lessons, that if you are lucky, you might already know, but if not, read and apply them now for a greater chance at success in life.
No one is better than you, and you are no better than anyone else. It is not fair, ever, to compare yourself to someone else because it’s like comparing bananas and apples. No two people have the same strengths and weaknesses. We are all champions in our own right. Never let anyone tell you different. Just because someone judges you or calls you something does not make it true. It is only true if you agree to it.
Which brings us to our next fundamental; Stand in your own truth. Know that you are valuable, and that your voice matters. Don’t accept truth just because someone else says so, learn to decide for yourself. Standing in the strength of your own voice can be a difficult thing to do, because, rest assured, in the School of Life you will definitely be challenged. Challenges are like a workout for your mental and emotional muscles. Just like lifting weights work your body muscles, challenges will work out those muscles on the inside that you can’t see but you know they are there. You may feel weak when you first start to use these muscles, but like any good fitness plan, the more you work out, the stronger you will become. So choose to stand strong for your own beliefs, learn to use those muscles. And that brings us to our next fundamental!
Choice=Power! When you make careful and thoughtful choices in your life, you have the power to move mountains! So often we allow others to make choices for us. For example; Sometimes friends try to tell us how we should dress, act, talk, etc., in order to be accepted. A true friend accepts you for who you are. You will save yourself a lot of heartache if you learn that now. A true friend won’t try to change you. On the other hand, a parent may try to influence your choices because they have your best interest in the School of Life at heart. When you learn to understand why someone is trying to influence you, you can feel confident about your choices. Remember in Harry Potter when Dumbledore said “It is our choices-that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Be true to yourself through your choices.
Which brings us to our last fundamental, and this ties into all the others, learn to trust yourself. You will find so often in life that you have only yourself to depend on in certain situations. This is another muscle that must be worked out. Self-trust does not come naturally, to anyone (although some people act like it does!), it is a muscle called confidence. The confidence muscle can only be strengthened by stepping out of your comfort zone and trying new things. Every time you try something new, or you challenge yourself to go a little further than you did last time, you strengthen that confidence muscle and that builds trust in self.
These are all things that you may be learning bits and pieces of in school, mostly just by interacting with friends and teachers, but you may not realize it. Begin to learn and practice these ideas now, while you are young, and it will make that School of Life go a lot smoother. Practice these lessons with friends to make learning them even more fun and support each other along the way! Before long you will realize that you truly are an expert in your own School of Life, and you will welcome all your life lessons with confidence and enthusiasm.
