Dear Me at 16,
I’m glad I have this chance to write this for you because there is so much I want to tell you about your future. I remember how much you wondered about your future when you were a teenager. I remember how lonely and hopeless you felt because you thought things would never change for you. I remember how much you hated what you saw in the mirror everyday. I remember how although you always held on to the hope that one day things would be different for yourself, you also resided yourself to the fact that things would always be as they were for you then and you just tried your best to accept it. Well I have something to tell you……you were wrong.
I know right now at 16 your fondest wish is to be beautiful and to have it that for once….just ONCE….it would be YOU to turn the guys heads and not just the girls around you. I know you feel like you’re nothing right now, like your invisible to the world, but guess what….you’re really not. You make yourself invisible because you don’t want the world to see you as you see yourself. But some people care and will care more than you realize, if you just give them the chance to get close to you. Not everyone around you is going to hurt you. Okay, some will, I wont lie to you about that. But for every thoughtless jerk in the world, there is someone who has a warm, kind and compassionate heart who will sincerely care about you. Be brave and put yourself out there once in awhile. Yes, you will get hurt sometimes doing this, but what you get in return from the good people will make it all worth it. But in those times when you do get hurt by life and from some of the people in it, try to remember that all of those hurts and all of that pain in the end will help you to become the person you are meant to be. You will remember those times and how you felt and it will help you to empathize with others who are experiencing pain and make you want to try and help them in any way that you can ….just as you wished someone would have done for you. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger and you WILL be stronger from it all and have a more loving heart because of it, too. Surprisingly, it will all be worth it in the end.
And believe it or not yes…one day…you will look into the mirror and like what you see. What, you don’t believe me? Now why would I lie to you? I know it’s hard but you just gotta trust me on this one. One day, as if your fairy godmother waved her magic wand over you, you will bloom. Some rosebuds need more time than others, more love and care, to be brave enough to allow the beauty that they hold deep inside of their petals to be seen by the whole world., but just be patient with yourself. One day you will realize that it hurts more to remain hidden inside of your rosebud than it will be to risk it all and allow yourself to bloom. And once you do….words wont be able to describe how you feel! You will take every compliment you receive and embrace it as if it was one of the greatest treasures on Earth because you and I both know to you….it is. Yes, sometimes what seems to be impossible actually is possible. So have faith, don’t ever give up hope and whatever you do, don’t listen to or pay any mind to the naysayers of this world who put you down and who don’t appreciate all the love and gifts you have to offer. In the end they don’t matter, so don’t give them the power to make you feel bad about yourself in anyway.
Now after knowing what your future has in store for you, I want you to remember something very important. For as much as you want to be pretty…in the end….it’s NOT what is important. As you wait for your time in the sun, you need to continue to work on what is TRULY important. Keep working hard in school and studying because developing your mind and intelligence is important and so is developing your personality. You see, everyone’s looks fade over time and in the end if that is all you depended on and all you had to offer the world, you will be sadly left. What beauty lies on the inside is TRULY what’s most important. Also, always keep your heart and mind open. Offer kindness to people for no other reason than because it’s the right thing to do and it’s what you would want others to do for you. Always put out into this world what you would hope to get back from it and you will never go wrong. In the end…..just be the kind of person you would want to know and be around yourself.
Beyond this, you don’t need to know right now. A peek into the future is fine but to stare at it is impolite. Be happy with what I have told you and just remember to hang in there….it all does get better.
Love,
Me at 38…..yeah, I can’t believe it either! {{SIGH}}
