be kind to teenagers. they cry more than you think.

a little fact you should know when it comes to teenagers:

we feel.

a lot.

and deeply, too.

we read too much into what people are thinking.

we stress more than we let on.

we cry when no one is looking.

we keep a lot of secrets.

we have massive insecurities.

we don't understand what it is we are feeling half the time.

we are just trying to figure out who we are.

and what we are meant to be and do in life.

we sometimes wonder if there is even a place in this world for us.

we lose friends.

we make enemies.

we constantly feel the need to feel accepted.

we wonder if we are too different.

if our own uniqueness isn't all that wonderful.

as a teenager, i've got all these things swimming around in my mind.

all the time.

and i think that no one ever thinks to stop and ask a teenager how they're feeling once they've grown up and forgotten what it is to be a teenager.

but you know, teenagers are weak.

and we need to be reminded that we have not been abandoned, 

and that we are never alone.

so next time you encounter a teenager you know and love, give them a hug.

 and ask them- really truly ask them this time- how they are doing today.

maybe you'll get a whole life story, maybe you'll just get the common answer,

"i'm fine."

but what matters is that you always let them know that you are there.

and that the suffering, it won't always be there.

there will always be pain in life, of course, but that temporary pain called highschool will end.

you've just gotta stand tall and keep an eye out for the light at the end of the tunnel.

because, love, you will find it.

you will always find it.


blessings over your week,
hannah.