Advice We Didn't Know We Needed

Welcome to the Episode: Grandma's Timeless Advice for Teenagers Hi, my name is Alegria. Speaker 2 And my name is Nina Schallenberg, and welcome or welcome back to our podcast. Wait, Let us Explain. Speaker 1 In this episode, we'll be reflecting on some advice that our family members and friends gave to us, which we think is really important and really valuable, and just talking about it. Speaker 2 But remember, not all advice will be applicable to your life so take this with a grain of salt and don't take this too seriously. If you think it's good advice then by all means, but if you disagree that's fine too. The first person that I went that I asked for advice from was my grandma because I am pretty close to my grandma and I think that being older you have a sense of realization like. Speaker 1 Being older and wiser, you have just more humility, more experience. Speaker 2 And the advice that she offered was she's talking about teenage years, by the way, really enjoy this phase because it passes very quickly. Make sure to truly cherish your friends, avoid alcohol and cigarettes, and also know that whenever you need anything, you can always count on your family. I think that last part was little per like personal because she is a part of my family. But I think that this is like the kind of advice that you hear a lot. But it's so true because I'm turning 17 this year and Alegria is turning 16 and I feel like being 16 like it totally escaped me. I it feels like yesterday I was 15 but also 16 was like 1 of like the hardest but best years of my life because I feel like I grew so much as a person. Speaker 1 Yeah, like, you'll hear it. Enjoy your teenage years. You're not an adult. Yeah, we, we have a lot less responsibility. Building Your Support System: The Value of Family and Friends The thing about family that can really vary upon people, like your family, your relationship with them. But remember that these are people that are always gonna be with you no matter what. Like friends come and go, they leave, but your family like is forever. Speaker 2 Yeah, on that family note, I think that a lot of us are very, very, very lucky to have to come from a good family and have a good relationship with your family. I think that's such a blessing. However, not everyone has that. But I think it's important to establish some sort of support in your life, and if that's not from your family, maybe you can find it from your friends or a mentor or teachers. Speaker 1 So in high school, at least for me, it feels like emotion is like the strongest thing in your life. Like so many things can like, sway you, like so many, like mood swings in high school, so much is going on. But having a good group of friends, that is so valuable and it can alter your experience, honestly, in a good way or a bad way. So Anita and I have had like the same friend group sort of since 7th grade. And there's been a lot of ups and downs for sure. And a lot of people have left. It's a group of five friends and we're so close. Having good friends like that are just so important that are supportive too. Speaker 2 I don't think you meet people by accident. So I and I do believe that if it wasn't maybe a friendship that you still have, if you lost a friendship, like I would hope that you learned something from it. I know that every single friendship that's like left my life, I've gained a lesson in return. So it does feel like a loss, of course, but in some ways that's replaced with a lesson or like you learn more about yourself through other people as well. And then also, I think that having friends and meeting different people, you learn a lot through them because we are all so different and unique. And I know that I learned so much from my friends every day. And that's like my favorite part about having good friends in high school. So in summary, I do think this is really good advice and I do think that I will be keeping this in the back of my head. It's not something that I've heard for the first time, but it's definitely something that I do believe in. Finding Joy: Cultivating a Positive Mindset in Every Moment Anyway, on the same line, a friend of mine who has gone through a lot of things involving her mental health in the past like few years, which like some are some things have been pretty traumatic, but she is very inspirational and very positive. So she told me that there are only as many positive moments in your life as you make them. Life is as good as you make it. It's your own choice. While this is so hard to follow, it is so hard to see the glass half full, especially when you feel like everything is going wrong in your life. But maintaining that kind of mindset is so important and pretty much determines your happiness. Speaker 2 Yeah, I really like this advice. I saw something on Pinterest the other day and I really wish I could remember what it said, but it was something along the lines of the good moments you have in your life rely on your ability to spot them. It was something like that. But I think what this means is that we have to find some way to enjoy every moment in our lives, even the ones that aren't enjoyable. Like, and this doesn't mean that you're going to be happy 100% of the time, but I think we go through things for a reason. And if you're having a harder time, just know that we need that in order to have you guys ever heard the thing that's like, we need the rain to appreciate the sun? Have you heard that? Like that's kind of how I see this. Like we need those hard moments in our lives so we can really enjoy the good ones. Don't Be Swayed: Listen to Your Inner Voice and Passion Anyway, the next thing was from my mom when she told me to use your own mind and not to be swayed by others. Listen to that little voice in your head that tells you what to do. This is essentially just following your passion. I don't think anyone is happy doing something that they don't want to do. You should never feel like you're forced into a certain career or certain hobby. Sometimes in a rare occasion, it can end well, like if you're forced to play a certain instrument or do a certain sport, you can learn to love it. But ultimately, if you shouldn't feel pressure should always come from within. Speaker 2 I think that this is different than stepping out of your comfort zone. Stepping out of your comfort zone means or usually it comes from like within. Yeah. And like maybe like a stronger desire to do whatever it is that you're not comfortable doing. However, it does take some courage to overcome that. Umm, I do think that you know yourself better than anyone else and you spent the most time with yourself and you are gonna spend the rest of your life with yourself. So I think that you should make life as enjoyable as you can for you. You're not living to please someone else or impress someone else. Impress yourself 1st and be happy with who you are. Speaker 1 Yeah, you're living for yourself. And that can also mean like, fulfilling your own happiness by helping other people. It doesn't mean like you're living a completely selfish life. It's your life should be defined by your values, your interests, what you love to do. Navigating Information Overload: Trusting Your Heart and Conscience OK, the next piece of advice is probably my favorite. It's from my stepmom and it is a little bit similar to this last piece of advice. However, I really like the way that she worded it. She said the world is overflowing with information across countless channels in every corner today, and this inevitably influences the way we view and live our lives. It becomes difficult to discern what is truly what is truly important, especially since that definition can vary from one place to another and from one person to another. So my advice is this, take every, take a moment, every now and then to listen to your heart and what your mind is telling you. And from there, always follow your heart and your conscience throughout your life. I think that this is very important because in our world, we're constantly consuming so much information and we're consuming other people's opinions daily about everything we say or do. And I think it's important to take a moment and like reevaluate your values and your passions and your goals and your interests. Because again, like I said earlier, that's really all that matters at the end of the day. But it can be hard to differentiate your opinion from other people's when you're constantly consuming that, like every day. Speaker 1 I think this is an aspect of self reflection. When we're seeing in school all these people following certain career paths, doing these certain activities, we feel again pressure to be doing them even that when it's nothing we actually wanna do. We see so much online. So having a path and knowing what you love to do is essential to having a good life. Speaker 2 Sometimes when we see other people like be granted certain opportunities, we can feel like jealous or like we're not doing enough. But I think that someone else's path doesn't have to line up with yours, and you will be granted your own unique opportunities when the time comes. The Secret to Happiness: Do What You Love, Make Life Easy So finally what my dad said, I guess this has been really similar, but it's do whatever you love to do and that's what makes life easy. Don't do anything other people force you to do. So kind of like the exact same thing, but doing whatever you love to do. It can seem so hard and it probably is so hard, but that's what's really going to make you happy. I promise. Don't go the easy way with anything in your life because you're not going to be successful. It's unfortunate, but success does not come easily. It comes at a cost and that can be hard work, persistence. You have to do that. If you are so passionate about medicine, research, developing new treatments, you're gonna have to go through a lot of school. You're gonna have to go to Med school, residency, so much stuff. But if that's what you wanna do, it's what you should do and like, not even what you should like. What you need to do, you know? Speaker 2 I always hear the term do what you love, but I think what makes this piece of advice different is do what you love to do and that makes life easy. And I think that means that of course, doing what you love sometimes isn't easy, but because you are doing something you enjoy, you're not having a miserable time while doing it. If you like, Alegria said, you really love medicine. Studying medicine is not easy by any means, but because you love to do it, you're not being tortured every day when you're studying and you like, enjoy learning about this. And it doesn't mean it comes easy to you, but it's a good life because you enjoy it. And at the end of the day, the whole point of life is to enjoy it. Make life as enjoyable as you can. Well, in my opinion, make life as enjoyable as you can because we only have one life. Speaker 1 And you would never want to end up in a career or in a place that you hate, especially if it's permanent. I promise it'll be miserable. And this also doesn't mean that you can't turn your life around if you're in a place mentally, even physically, that you just don't enjoy. You need to make a change. Nothing will happen if you don't make a change. You need to be the difference. Thank You for Listening: Connect With Us OK, Anyways, that reaches the end of our podcast. Thank you guys so much for listening. We hope that you found this advice valuable. Speaker 2 And you can find us on Spotify, Tiktok and Instagram. Thank you. See you next week. Speaker 1 Thank you.