20 Things I learned before turning 20

Some of you might know that midway through last month I turned twenty. Although it might not seem like a milestone, not being a teenager any more has really got me thinking and so I thought I'd make a list of twenty things I learned in the years before I turned the big two oh.

1: Take photographs. Take photographs of everything, take photographs of yourself looking pretty, take photographs of yourself looking disgusting, take photographs with your friends and on your own. Document your whole life in picture, trust me, you'll thank yourself for it.

2: Write everything down. Keep a diary, write stories based on true fact. Literally nothing will be funnier than looking back on what a twenty year old you had to say when you are thirty, I guarantee it.

3: Take risks. Get drunk, stay out late on work nights, go on adventures. The times you will remember most fondly will be when you did the things you know you shouldn't have done.

4: Love more. Love your parents, love your siblings, love strangers you meet in bars. Open yourself up and find reasons to fall in love with people. Better to get to adulthood having loved to much than to have spent most of your most significant years lonely.

5: F*ck the diet. Eat cake. Eat cake all the time, every day if you want, it's someone's birthday somewhere. Don't know anyone who has a birthday today? It's Matt's birthday. Don't know a Matt? Who cares. Somewhere in the world there is a Matt, it's his birthday and you are disrespecting him by turning down cake.

6: Stay friends with those who matter. Jib off anyone detrimental to your life, regardless of the history you have with them. I can almost 100% guarantee that if someone says "We'll be best friends forever" in high school, they'll mysteriously go missing when you need them. Find the people that never had to say anything, they were just there, no questions asked.

7: Fall in love with whoever. Kiss girls, kiss boys, kiss girls and boys. Don't be so stuck in your ways. You might fall in love with a girl one day, and it might be the great romance you've been looking for. Give yourself a chance, widen your horizons.

8: See more places. As soon as you're old enough, travel. Travel England, travel Europe, travel the world. I can almost guarantee some of the best times with friends will be in train stations in the crappest towns when you've missed a connection.

9: Pursue what you love. Love dance? Be a dancer. There's a job for everyone, do what you love and it will eventually pay off. Don't be a doctor if you hate blood. In fact, unless you're proper passionate about it don't be a doctor at all because uni fees are crippling and it's a proper long course.

10: Take a crappy job. In Mcdonald's if you have to. It's not about the money (although that's a bonus), it's about how close you get to be to the people that pull you through. You will make genuine friends much faster in a rubbish job, in my experience.

11: Sleep Late. Go to sleep at 4am, get up at 4pm. These are the golden hours. Trust me, you can watch an entire 47 minute episode of Pretty Little Liars in 27 minutes at 3:30am in the morning if you want it hard enough.

12: Take public transport. Take the bus, take the train, put your headphones in but don't put any music on. Listen to people, listen to gossip, fall in love with boys you'll see for ten minutes on one morning a week. It might seem grim, but it can honestly be the best feeling.

13: Wear Heels. All the time. Even when it isn't acceptable, wear your glittery, horrendously high heels if you want to wear them. It's nearly impossible to feel down about yourself when wearing glittery heels.

14: Buy the dress. How many dresses have you put off buying because you can't think of an occasion? Buy the dress and then find the occasion, a good dress is a good dress, whether you have a reason to buy it or not.

15: Smile more. Nobody falls in love with grumpy strangers in the street. Wear a smile that will make boys want to write poetry about you. Only, you know, make sure you don't look too creepy when you're smiling at everything. Potentially practise in the mirror first.

16: Read. Read books, read stories you loved as a kid, read fashion magazines. Read everything, know random facts to bring up at dinner parties. The more you read, the more likely people will be to make you part of their pub quiz team.

17: Get piercings. Get random bits of metal stuck through your body for absolutely no reason at all. Get the weirdest ones the piercer offers, they'll always start a conversation if nothing else. Get a piercing in your forearm, for instance, people always have questions about that.

18: Go and see bands. Bands you like, bands you don't like, bands you've never even heard of. Get drunk, dance, get sweaty, get covered in beer. I've never have a bad night at a gig, regardless of the band I've been to see.

19: Believe in yourself. Believe you know what you're doing, believe in what you have to say, believe even if you know damn well that you're wrong. Say what you have to say with pride, and be self assured about it. If nothing else, it will be hilarious.

20: Appreciate. Appreciate everything. Appreciate yourself, your friends, the money you have, the life you have, the food you have to eat and the water you have to drink. Appreciate every little bit because it all happens for a reason!

What have you learned that you wish you could pass along to other people? What do you think of my twenty things?