I’m not sure if you collegiettes are aware, but Taylor Swift is just like us. She’s young, beautiful, and full of talent and ambition–which makes it really hard not to look up to her! She may live the life that we all wish we had, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have struggles… she’s still human! And, she’s also living proof that our hard times only make us stronger. Who else do you know that could keep their composure as well as Taylor did when Kanye West swooped the microphone out of her hand as she was thanking her fans for the award they helped her win?
But, keeping her composure isn’t the only admirable thing about Taylor. She makes it known through her music that her life isn’t as perfect as people think because her songs are relatable and true. We learn life mottos from listening to her music. We put on “Shake It Off” when we’re trying to ‘shake off the haters.’ We put on “Wildest Dreams” when we’re going through a breakup. And we dance in our underwear and sing on the top of our lungs to “22” on our 22nd birthday because we just feel like it.
Here are just a few things that T-Swift has taught all of us over the years.
1. Be respectful of others who have a different opinion than you. It’s sometimes hard to bite your tongue when someone says something that you think is completely ridiculous, and trust me, we’ve all been there. But you sometimes need to get to that point where you realize that you gain nothing but a mean subtweet for criticizing someone else’s opinion. Yes, you might have a witty, sarcastic comment to fire back, and yes it might get a lot of favorites, but the social media war isn’t worth your classiness. Put your big girl panties on and realize that everyone is NOT going to have the same beliefs or opinions that you do. I promise that as soon as you do, your life will will be a lot smoother.
2. People come and go, but you must always pick yourself back up and move on. Don’t stress over the people who decide they’re better off without you. Ten times out of ten you’re probably better off without them as well. The people who are worth keeping in your life are the people who make the effort to stay there.
3. The color red represents to many things: happiness, anger, falling in love, jealousy, passion, frustration. Red is one fierce color and it has been around for ages, but lets be real. No one even cared about the color red until Taylor came along.
4. Be aware of your own flaws but learn to love yourself anyway. Not one person on this earth is perfect so why should you strive to be? As far as I’m concerned, perfection is boring. Make life interesting by being yourself. After all, there is only one of you.
5. Guarding your heart and protecting your dignity is more important than clarifying the emotions of someone who’s only sending back 3 word replies to your texts. I can’t stress this one enough. Ladies, it’s incredibly easy to fall into temptation of a boys words. But that’s the thing, words are just words. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “actions speak louder than words,” and if you’re anything like me, you’re thinking of how cliché that is, but girl IT IS TRUE. Don’t let that boy steal your heart through a text message. Guard your heart. If you have to justify his actions, give him the boot. You deserve more than that.
6. Being fearless is having fears but jumping anyway. We’ve all been at that point where we’re scared, completely terrified even. The feeling sucks and you think about 20 “what ifs” per second. Do not let fear keep you from doing anything. You’ll never know unless you try. Go for it.
7. Silence speaks so much louder than screaming tantrums. Don’t address a situation by acting crazy. It’s not worth it. Contain yourself. You’re angry and it’s understandable to want to “go all out” on someone, but don’t. Kill them with kindness, as I like to say. Being publically silent about the situation shows that you’re better than whatever predicament you’ve been put into. But here’s a little secret: when you’re behind closed doors, let it all out girl. Its good for the soul.
8. No matter what situation or predicament you’re going through, there is ALWAYS a relevant T-Swift song. Taylor Swift is the MOST relatable artist. She is a lyrical genius. In a bad mood? There’s a Taylor Swift song for that. Bad breakup? There’s a Taylor Swift song for that. In the best mood ever? There’s a Taylor Swift song for that. She is a lyrical genius–no questions about it.
9. Happiness is a condition, not a destination. Happiness shouldn’t be something that you eventually get to. Being happy is something that you are. Happiness is a mood that’s never constant. It comes and it goes. Happiness is not a destination so don’t treat it like one.
10. Change is a good thing. Do what you have to do to become more comfortable with who you are as a person. T-Swift went from producing country music to producing pop and her music has taken over billions of teen girls’ radios because of it. She might have gotten a little grief for it, but so what? Do what makes YOU happy. Everyone deserves to be comfortable in their own skin.