The complete list of all life-guiding messages for young people – click the titles for further information
Focus on where you are now. What have you overcome? What resources have you used to get past the pain? Rather than venting, sink deeper into your most primary feelings about the situation and allow yourself to really experience them.
Peer pressure can be present at school or within a broader community. It can affect people of all ages and backgrounds. Peer pressure can affect you in a number of different ways: directly, indirectly or pressure from yourself.
Peer pressure might influence you in a number of ways, including: fashion choices; alcohol and drug use; decision to have a boyfriend or girlfriend; choice of who your friends are; academic performance.
A certain amount of learning to accept negative emotions is healing. The less you struggle against negative emotions, the less you have to feel badly about. At the same time, sometimes negative emotions can be overwhelming, and you really need a break from them.
“Distraction” goes against normal wisdom – that you have to face your troubling emotions before you can escape them. Distraction is nothing more than a temporary respite from negative moods. It isn’t a permanent fix and shouldn’t be thought of as one.
Break your subjects down into key topics, and manageable chunks including scheduled breaks and social activities. Use colours to make your plan more visual. Make your plan flexible, but don’t spend all your time changing it around.
Share your revision plan with friends and family so they can keep you on track. Ticking off topics when you’ve covered them will give you a sense of achievement, and revision will be more interesting if you vary the way you revise.
You may think that you’re no longer worrying about what caused the pain, but as soon as there is an open ear willing to listen, you find yourself retelling the story. At first this can help, but at some point you have to stop telling the story; you’re just re-opening the wound.
If nothing can be done about your emotional pain, your only and best choice is simply to accept what is and allow yourself to feel what you feel. It can be helpful to process your feelings with a friend, counsellor or to write them out in a journal.
Set yourself revision targets and goals. Aim to have revision completed one week before the exam starts to give yourself flexibility, rest and extra time to focus on harder points. Balance your time between subjects you’re most and least confident about.