Things I'd like to tell my 5 year old self

Do you ever wish you could go back in time and give some much-needed advice to your younger self? Do you ever wonder how your life could have turned out if you knew then what you know now?

After re-discovering this hilarious photo of myself from approximately 1992, I thought I'd blog about the long list of things I'd like to tell my 5 year old self.

'One day, you'll discover hair straighteners and your life will suddenly become much easier. Until then, you'll experiment with all kinds of terrible hairstyles including a mid-teen phase of positioning ten mini butterfly clips at the top of your head every morning. If you could skip that phase, your older self would be eternally grateful.'

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'You've got the nicest parents in the world. Don't ever forget that, and don't ever take them for granted.'

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'Don't worry, you won't always be so fussy and angsty about your food. Believe it or not, you'll actually turn into someone who completely and utterly loves food. However, you will always hate peas and sweetcorn.'

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'Nicola will still be your best friend in 26 years, and probably for another 50 years after that!'

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'Just after your 30th birthday, something really horrible with life-changing repercussions is going to happen to you. I want you to know that you WILL get through it and you'll somehow find a level of strength you never knew you had.'

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'You will never ever be good at sports, however hard you try. And do you know what? Although it might seem like the most important thing in the world right now, you won't care once you leave school and realise that your sporting prowess isn't a big deal in the real world.'

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'On a similar note, you'll always hate sports day (and not just because you'll have to wear that yellow tshirt every year). You'll never understand why some people are so competitive about every little thing, and you'll always hate any kind of competitive event... unless it's a spelling test. You ace those spelling tests.'

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'You don't want to follow the crowd now, and you still won't want to in 26 years' time. However, you will become very susceptible to buying pretty Disney products you've seen on Instagram and buying jewellery from Pandora. Don't worry though, you're going to have excellent budgeting skills so you'll only succumb to what you can afford!'

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'You know those cliques you get so intimidated by, even at 5 years old? Everyone will tell you there won't be any cliques once you leave school, but there will be. They're everywhere, however old you are, and you just have to learn to be comfortable with doing your own thing.'

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'There's really no need for you to be so afraid of dogs. One day, you're going to have your own dog and you'll love her more than you ever thought possible.'

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'You will stop biting your nails one day, but only when you discover nail varnish at 14 years old. You'll feel very guilty in the meantime about receiving Polly Pocket sets from your parents to reward you for stopping for a few weeks, then not being able to stop yourself from starting again.'

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'This will be one of the hardest lessons to learn, and you still won't have mastered it in 26 years' time, but you don't need people in your life who make you feel rubbish about yourself. You do a good enough job of that all by yourself. Whoever they are, just do whatever you need to in order to let them go.'

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'Stop worrying and obsessing over every tiny little thing you do wrong, and remember you're a good person and your heart is in the right place. You're only 5, why are you so worried all the time?!' 

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'I'm not going to lie to you, life is going to be very hard at times. Make the most of all the little (and big) things that make you happy.'

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Which pearls of wisdom would you share with your 5 year old self?