Hey Shimon’s Tribe! I could really use some advice. I’m 15, and there’s something that keeps showing up in my life. I care way too much about what people think of me—what they might say, how they might look at me—and it’s starting to hold me back from doing the things I actually want to do. For example, I recently started track and field. I want to get better, but I don’t like going to races because I know I’m not that fast yet, and I worry I’ll embarrass myself or that people will talk about me. Since I’m the one living through it, their opinions feel like they hit me harder. And even though I know they’re not in my shoes, it’s still hard—because I know they don’t understand what it’s like to be in my position. What I really want is to care more about improving and less about what people think. I wish I could just focus on getting better without being so caught up in how others might see me. When I was younger, I didn’t think about this stuff—I just did what I wanted. Maybe that’s because everyone was younger and things felt lighter. But now it’s showing up in different areas of my life, and I think about it all day. I’m about to be a junior in high school, and sometimes I feel like it might be too late for me to grow past this or to get good enough in time. But I really want to change—I just don’t know how. If anyone’s been through this or has any tips or advice, I’d be really grateful. Thanks for reading 💙

So this afternoon I found myself wasting my time scrolling once again (it happens less frequently than before tho). When I finally stopped my first reaction was to start regretting and worrying about that time I had just wasted. But then I paused for a minute and realized: time is already wasted and that I can't do anything to get it back. So instead of beating myself up because of that I just got to my computer and started working. I actually did a fair amount of work and I'm now ahead of my schedule I posted some time ago in here. So if you also find yourself in this situation, remember that you cannot reclaim wasted time, but what you can do is make the most of the time you have left. This also applies on a bigger scale with months/years wasted btw