Teens these days are very different from teens twenty years ago. Different ideas, rules, etc..

We also carry different things.

Teens carry their simplistic items such as phones, headphones, money, etc etc.. Teens carry not only personal items but also school accessories. Backpacks filled with papers, books, laptops, projects, pens and pencils, and even more. We carry the responsibility of school, which weighs just as much as a burden.

We carry the weight of our imperfections, or at least what we consider imperfections. Social media weighs down on teens, making us feel the need to change our appearance, actions, thoughts, feelings, and self-image. We carry the clothes on our back, in style or not. We carry the worries of not being cool enough or pretty enough or good enough.

Teens carry their family names with honor and sometimes shame. Some teens carry the fear of going home and facing their parents, afraid to say something wrong. Teens carry the fear of not amounting to the same as our peers. The thoughts that we wish to be like them look like them…. have their life.

We carry the words that are ingrained in our minds. Now they can be good or bad. Words that weigh nothing more than a feather and words that weigh more than bricks. Words that some will never forget. Words that have saved us from giving up. Words that pierced our hearts and changed us forever. Some words can weigh as much as the whole world. We carry the weight of the world sometimes.

Teens today had to carry the weight of a virus that isolated them from the world, making them wither up inside. We had to carry the everyday events in 2020. Covid didn’t just weigh down on us; it changed us. We carried the fear the virus sparked in our world; the deaths of our loved ones. For a long time, teens had to carry masks. Masks that protect ourselves from each other. We carried the fear of others being near, fearing the risk of catching covid and possibly spreading it. Going back to our almost normal lives, we carried the exhausting weight of our anxieties. We had to learn how to be around others all over again. The crippling depression we carry is an indescribable weight on us.

The things teens carry cannot be compared to what adults carry.

Teens carry the weight of decisions they have to make in their life. The weight of our future. We carry the aspirations our parents have for us. The expectations of our society telling us how to be. We carry the expectations of our families. We carry the worry of not making something of ourselves.

Teens these days carry a lot. Even more, than you think we have to.

Some things we carry because it makes us feel better about ourselves. We carry things that make us doubt our self-worth. We carry the crushed dreams we never get to have. We carry a lot of bad things, more than I can count. We carry good things as well.

We carry the memories we relive late at night, running through every second of it. We carry the love and support our families provide us. We carry the loyalty our friends have entrusted us with. We carry our beliefs and morals. We carry the things we have been told dozens of times.

We carry our own unique outlook on life. Personally, I carry my inspirations and dreams. My dream of becoming a person who helps others. My inspiration is to better myself every single day I live on this planet.

We carry millions of inspirations throughout our life, looking back and wondering if we could ever inspire others as they did. We carry the wonders we have and the possibilities our world has for us. We carry the wonders of the unknown, hoping to one day be the person who has the solution. We carry the hopes of becoming successful people.

Teens carry so much these days; you would think our backs would be broken by now.

We carry the insights we have experienced throughout our lives. Some of us use our life experiences to better understand the world around us. Some use it as an excuse, a reason to do bad. An explanation of why they are the way they are. We carry the choices these events cause us to make.

I chose to use my life and what I have learned to help others. Others choose to use their lessons negatively in hopes of finding something deep inside them. I carry my deepest darkest secrets, secrets that I shame myself for. Secrets that carry a toxicity with them that, if unleashed, will slowly diffuse into the world. We all carry secrets. Some teens carry secrets that could shatter another person. Some secrets that, once revealed, will bring an overwhelming sense of joy. We carry the good and bad news.

Teens carry so many things, things that can drive us to our breaking point. Things that make us wither up inside. Things we dare not to share with a single soul, fearful of what might come from it.

As a teen myself, I don’t think grown-ups understand how much we carry.

No, we don’t carry the same things as you, but we still carry a lot. Teens all carry different things. Things we carry that make us different from one another. Things that bring us closer together. Things that give others an understanding of life. Things that can change a person.

We carry a lot of the stuff some adults carry.

We carry the weight of adult responsibilities that a child shouldn’t have to face. Things that have been bestowed upon us. Sometimes we want these things, sometimes not.

We are all different, and we all carry things differently.

Some carry things with ease, not letting anything weigh them down. Others carry the weight with a slow, painful life. The most important thing we carry ultimately is ourselves. We carry our identity, our everything.

Carrying things makes us tired.