Excerpt from Inspirations for Teens   Section One Emotional Changes “Why's everyone saying I'm moody? I just don't want to talk!”   During puberty you can have real extremes in behaviour; for example, you may not be able to hide a crush you have on someone or the fact that you don't like someone else. It's as if you temporarily lose your balance. Our emotions are also tied to our self-esteem, which are the words used to describe how we feel about ourselves. I have a big thing about self-esteem because I know what it's like to not feel good about yourself and even   to not like yourself very much because you wish you were more like some of your peers or role models. During this season of your life you can even feel extreme jealousy or envy about what someone else has, whether it's because they are in a relationship … even material things like the money they have, or if they have a good relationship with their parents, or a nicer house and so on. It's OK; this is not the end of the story!   By recognising what you're going through and using God's Word (the Bible) you can make a decision to change for the better and not become bitter. It's just a passing phase. I'm not sure when it gets better, it just does and at different times for different people.   When I was at school I had this huge crush on this guy called Tommy (that's not his real name, do you think I'm crazy, you might know him!). I didn't realise how obvious it was, I thought I was hiding it well and holding it down but every time I saw him, I'd go weak at the knees.   One day one of my friends confronted me with it and said, “You fancy Tommy, you fancy Tommy!” I tried to deny it but it was too obvious, and then the worse thing that could have happened, happened. They went and told him! I was so embarrassed and so mad I think I hid every opportunity I got. When they told him, he wasn't interested, which was heartbreaking, but do you know the worse thing? He didn't even know who I was he had to ask them to describe me. Help! So all those times I had passed him in the corridor and I thought he was giving me the eye, or smiling at me, he didn't even know who I was! Help! LOL!   I thought I would never show my face in school again, but do you know what, I did and soon something else was the topic of discussion. If you don't decide your worth and how important you are, someone else will and if they don't like what they see, they can put a value on you that is less than your worth and, even worse, you can start to agree with them and think that you are worthless. You are not worthless. You are God's precious child!   You are beautiful! You are handsome! You are bright! You are gifted! You are special and unique! You are God's designer original! You are fearfully and wonderfully made!