To Ink or Not to Ink?

     Happy Wednesday! This is my second out of three posts for today as an apology for not posting in the past few days. So my birthday is in only six days (it scares me so much that I'm going to be a legal adult when I get scared of talking to people on the phone) and I thought for a while that I wanted to get a tattoo as a present for myself and I even asked my friend (remember the rather wild one?) to come with me and she said she would make an appointment. I was so excited at first! I wanted to get "alis volat propriis," which is Latin for "she flies with her own wings" on my right hip bone. I love the quote so much because it encompasses Latin, flying, and independence, which are all things that I love.
     I seriously thought I was going to go through with this. I had it all planned out, my parents (who would kill me if I got a tattoo) would never find out, and it would make me instantly "cooler." I mean, how badass would it be to brag to all of my friends (who are younger than me; I'm the oldest in my grade) about how much more mature I am (ha) because I got inked? But then I started thinking about it a bit more: this thing would probably hurt really bad to get, it could be super expensive, what if I got AIDS from a dirty needle, what if my parents found out, not to mention that it's permanent. What if I decide that I don't like it anymore? So many "what ifs."
      If I'm questioning getting the tattoo this much, is it really the right decision? I basically just want to rebel but I'm scared of getting in trouble! It's ridiculous. There's a part of me that's actually really mad at myself for deciding that I don't want the tattoo right now, because I'm literally so lame and this was the one thing I was actually considering seriously. I'm such a pathetic coward that I can't even get a meaningful tattoo in a safe environment. But the other part of me is saying that it's smart to wait until college when my parents aren't completely involved in my life and I'm 100% positive that I want this tattoo.
      Please give me some advice! I seriously need some kind of direction right now!

Carpe Diem,
Brooke