dude, mel, this is not a screw-up. you're 18. man, you have so much time and life ahead of you. you can still do stupid stuff and say "it's ok, i'm a teenager" and everyone will say "yeah, that's true, ok, you can go".
anyway, go to college, learn what's REALLY important (i'll tell you what that is right now - learn to think for yourself, budget your time and expenses, and when you don't know the answer, keep talking to people who are smarter than you until you GET the answer. then put it in a spreadsheet. you may know the spreadsheet part already.)
and...most importantly...this can NOT be stressed enough...if you're living at home...SAVE MONEY!! HARDCORE!!! i am kicking myself for not saving more over the years. make it fun. (use ING Direct.)
lastly...if you can...just get out there and pioneer. or cont. aux. because...that's something you can always look back on and draw from those experiences. good return visits, friendships built in service, helping in the congregation. all worthwhile.
i kno i kno i kno... if it was a real screw up- i prolly wouldn't have my parents to fall back on haha but i do and they are just fixing it all
and since you are one of the people who is "smarter then me".. just what is ING Direct? haha
and i will be pioneering once i get to Vineland cuz my parents told me that i won't have to work... so thats one good thing about this whole mess
Whoah..why don't my parents say this to me? My dad says take more credits oh..and get a job.
yeah my dad says taht to me too....and i dont know whats gonna happen if i get an unpaid internship!! :(
it's a bank with no walls, save online and get like 2.3% interest. Dave Song told me about it. It's really good. they do direct deposit too.
Have you ever had any problems with it?
dave song!! oh man he is the ultimate asian robot
this is all really good advice...i gotta agree with all of it. i think he hit on most of the points i'd want to say, but i wanna add this...
...making mistakes is part of life, not even necessarily being young (though it happens the most often then, becuase of inexperiance), but the point is...no mistake is unrepareable. That's the great thing about life...it's ongoing..you mess up, you fix it, sure it might be harder to fix, but if you learn from it...you might be better off having made that mistake after all. So, my overall point is, don't worry MEL! It seems big now, but once it's past, it won't be that big of a deal.
In the words of dory from finding nemo, "just keep swimmin', just keep swimmin'"
oh, and what dan said about talking to people who are smarter then you....that's priceless. Sounds like you already really appreciate your parents advice...thats great
you know...between the two of us...sooo many things about growing up...like (this is REALLY important, i never realized how much until lately)
try and CONNECT with people emotionally WHENEVER you can. Don't think "oh, I can't have a conversation with that person". Your friends, householders, friend's parents - it doesn't matter. When you understand where a person is coming from, what they're about, who they want to be - not just "what music do you like", you can really say you KNOW that person. i have friends i've hung out with for years, and i don't really KNOW. For field service, when you really try to connect with people, REALLY care about their opinions and their lives, at EVERY door - people can tell. that will be part of your personality. and people will be drawn to that.
*(i am currently working on this.)
WOW this was so sweet and SO true! Thats one thing i've learned, always "learn" about others, really care and take into consideration what they're about.
I'm working on this also. I devoloped some real relationships in service simply by asking how did you come into the truth? or What obstacles did you have to overcome in your service to Jehovah?