Run

What advice would you give to your teenage self?

I never intended to stay close to home, and I was right to feel that way.

Unfortunately my father didn’t want to pay money to educate a daughter who would only get married and have babies, even though I’d said when I was two that I would never, ever, have children and mum believed me.

I would tell my younger self to run, run as far away as you can as fast as you can. Get a job on a cruise ship, travel the world. Never look back.

I would tell her to live! Not follow the narrow classification of a life as lived by my family.

I would tell any person the same thing if they’re unhappy at home, with one caveat.

Think

If you’re going to do this, think outside the box.

I would never have thought to work on a cruise ship, but it would have been perfect for me.

Think about who you are. The narrower the family attitude the wider you stretch your mind.

Just because you may not be highly educated work doesn’t have to be a misery. There are so many things out there you can do:

• Work at a theme park such as Disneyland.
• Become a forest ranger.
• Dedicate yourself to a sport.
• Build boats.
• Dance or sing.
• If you write consider journalism.
• Like swimming? Become an instructor. Save lives.
• Love animals, work at a zoo. Many zoos are key to conservation.

Explore your talents and abilities. Not all famous or successful people thrived at school.

Most importantly, work out what matters to you.

I wasn’t raised to think Mum and Dad were always right in their opinion. That held me back more than anything in life.

Just think for yourself about who you are

Take it from there, and don’t stop running until you find what you need.

If you’re older you can still do this, it may just take more planning.

Cry freedom!

Best love

Amorah – Deb