Many of us spend a valuable amount of time regretting things we have done or said in the past, wishing situations would have played out differently.

Naturally, I look back and realize I wish my younger self would have done a few things differently during my time in high school.

Of course, I wish I would have gone to more games and events as an underclassman. Rather than skipping out on this basketball game or that art show, I wish I would have put myself out there and supported my classmates. I regret not getting involved in more clubs or finding my niche early on. I wish I would have stepped outside of my comfort zone and made more friends and got to know the faces I saw every day.

However, there are a few bigger regrets I have that I would change if I could go back and do it again.

During the past few months, I have come to realize the importance of one simple idea: kindness. I have always valued kindness. It is not necessarily that I chose to be outwardly rude to my classmates on a daily basis. But I think everyone can agree that it is easy to get caught up in the negative thoughts that inevitably fill the hallways of any high school.  Or just the busyness; I get so busy I don’t take the time to be kind. How sad is that?

More recently I have discovered that being openly nice helps the atmosphere. Along with this realization came another thought: the power of a compliment. I have found that these two ideas coincide with one another.

Now that I realize these ideas, I pay more attention to making others feel comfortable in their own skin because I think everyone could be more positive and supportive of those around them.  It doesn’t take that long to compliment a stranger’s outfit.

As I am nearing the end of my time in high school, rather than dwelling on these regrets, I am choosing to use them to my advantage and consider them as I move forward through life.