Ten Things I Wish I Knew when I was Thirteen

I'm not sure how I survived being thirteen years old. That was the year I ran away from home, got caught hitchhiking out to Folsom lake with my friend Andrea and wrote my first suicide note. It was a rough year!

In the years since then, I have often found myself in the middle of learning something that I wish I could go back in time and tell that thirteen-year-old kid. In that spirit here are:

Ten things I wish I knew when I was Thirteen...

It's not that everybody dislikes you, it's that they are busy thinking everybody dislikes them. Every single interesting person I have met in my adulthood has one thing in common. They thought they were disliked in middle school. They were the kids who were a little bit odd, maybe they were even a little bit of a geek. Or shy. I think those difficult middle school years were the foundation of some of what makes them interesting adults. So think of these years as a pay off to something that will someday be a really great life.

Let's talk about authority figures, parents, teachers, and I suspect even the President of the United States. The people in charge are just winging it. Basically adults are pretty good actors with more money and power than you have. Someday you will realize that half of it is just sheer confidence. I know you suspect that at some point they figured it all out; maybe they were even given all the answers, but secretly they are just scared little kids trapped in adult bodies.

Another thing you should know is that if you are a girl, boys are terrified of you and vice versa. Remember, sheer self-confidence. Interestingly this fear thing lasts for a long time. I see single people in there 30's who haven't figured it out yet.