How to Have a Good Teen Life

As a teenager, you'll be starting high school, making new friends, and most likely dating. Your hormones are racing the most in these few years, so it can be quite a roller coaster ride, but by the time you are a junior or senior, they are settled. Make the best of it by taking the advice below, so that you can remember good things from the past when you are an adult. You will be an adult soon enough, but you will experience many different changes on the way!

1. Have a healthy social life. As simple as this may be, a healthy social life is the key to enjoying your life in spite of the stress of school. Shop with friends; enjoy buying clothes and accessories. Go to a theme park, water park, or a few trips. Try to make at least two best friends, and try to make many friends from your gender and two or three the opposite gender for diversity. Go to arcade places, bowling, or teen clubs and places; this will be the best interaction with other teenagers or people around your age.
2. Have hobbies at home. Sew, read, play computer games, draw, or do yoga. Get a and/or Facebook account, but try not to get addicted to it. Make videos with your friends and post them on YouTube. Check online to see the hottest new music and the coolest new artists and songs of your genre of choice. You don't have to be a fan of pop music only; if you like to listen to your grandma's '50s doo wop albums or some nice relaxing smooth jazz or Bob Marley, go ahead Be a fan of your favorite sports team. Find whatever you enjoy doing and do it! Start a movie or book collection.
3. Be Creative -- Show off your talents. Write music, write stories and poems, create cool drawings, learn how to create web pages and computer programs, create your own clothes, cook, bake, work on a car, anything.
4. Get the latest accessories. Get cable TV and watch shows and films of your preference; family-style programming such as Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, ABC Family and WGN, or maybe intense drama the likes of Burn Notice or Justified. Maybe you can watch some classics such as Little House on the Praire and Gunsmoke, even if they are from your parents or grandparents generation. If you are more of a carefree, light hearted person, maybe anime or animated sitcoms such as Family Guy or The Simpsons will be good for you. Get an Xbox 360, PS3 or a Wii to play fun and interactive games in your spare time. Most importantly, get a mobile, PDA, iPod, PSP, MP3 player, iPhone, BlackBerry, or digital camera. Ask for these for your birthday or on Christmas, or any other day you celebrate.
5. Think of your own fashion. Be yourself and see what looks good on you (makeup and clothing attire). Whether it's face makeup (lip gloss and mascara) or body lotion, you got to be decent out the door, right? www.polyvore.com is a great website to get inspiration for a outfit for every day of the year!
6. Watch what you eat. Eat healthy foods and use junk foods either in moderation or as a treat. Try to have a good amount of water in your system and eat at least one big meal a day; more if you have high metabolism or in sports.
7. Study hard in school. Always turn in your homework on time and do well on tests. Education is the most important thing in your life; doing poorly, not trying, or dropping out of school can hurt your future in a significant way. If you are getting bad grades because you are struggling with something, get help. But if you are sluffing off, it might affect college and career opportunities in the future.
8. Get involved. School has many things for you to become involved in and have fun doing. Getting involved will help you in future years(look good on your college application) and you'll meet a lot of people. Like chess? You can be in the chess club, if the school doesn't have a club you wish you were in (say bowling club) you can create your own! This will help you be motivated in school.
9. Listen to your parents. Yes, as crazy as it sounds, it will make your life so much more easy and enjoyable if you just listen to your parents, so you don't have to hear them keep yelling at you! Obeying them will actually be an easy way into getting what you want, remember it has to be a 50/50 cooperation, not 80/20. You parents might be not be as up to date as you, but they may give you good timeless advice. They are in the real world, not the "surreal teen world". They had been teenagers just like you and you don't want to know what they did in high school, but they had learned from their mistakes which makes them the stodgy parents you have today. Just wait, you'll become the stodgy parent too when you have your own kids.