Dear Younger Me

Dear Younger Me,

I know you. I was you. I know your struggles and your trials. I know how they change who you become. I know your joys and your sorrows. I know your hopes and dreams. But, I also know that everything works out. I know that you grow up to have real friends, real passions, real joy! You might not feel beautiful, but you are! You are precious and so dearly loved! These are all the things I wish I could tell you:

It is okay to be happy. It is okay to have fun. You are such a stick in the mud! You always have been! Laugh when it’s funny! Play and dance- not everything needs to be taken seriously! You rarely break out of that sad little shell of yours, but just a small smile can crack the surface. Someday soon you will dance down the halls for the sake it, laugh at the very worst moments, and always have a smile on your face. It is so much easier, so much better to live life like this!

Get involved in things! Join the random clubs, play a sport, do something! Not only are you a stick in the mud, you are a bump on a log! Don’t quit things when they get hard (you’re really good at it...) Try new things and keep trying until you find something that makes you happy!

Make friends! I always talk about how I never had any friends, but let’s be real: You were in your own way. You held people at a distance, never letting them close. Let me tell you, you break down those barriers eventually and find yourself surrounded by the most amazing friends to ever exist! Friends who support you, who make you laugh, who get you to do crazy things, and who love you for the person you truly are!

Don’t worry what other people think, they don’t care about you. They just want someone to laugh at and then they move on. Don’t consider them! Get unabashedly excited for things! Pick up that rock, listen to the same song 5 times in a row, pet that dog! You might look stupid, but it so much better than crying yourself to sleep because there is nothing to look forward to any more.

Don’t hold grudges! There is a period of time when you become bitter and grumpy and you are no fun to be around that way! Holding grudges does nobody any good and you are only hurting yourself. And in retrospect, it wasn’t even that big of a deal. The grudge always becomes more of a problem than the original action was.  

Cut unnecessary people out of you life. Okay, I know I just said to make friends, but there are some people who need to go. That is good! It means you are growing! You are not meant to be friends with everyone forever. If they are no longer bringing them joy, you don’t have to spend so much time on them.

Share your passions. They aren’t yours to keep, they are for sharing! You get jealous when people like the same things as you- which is so stupid! Passions are not for locking up, they are for showing the world. And so what- someone else does that too?! It doesn’t make what you do inferior!

Don’t try to be the idea of yourself. You will find that there is a way people perceive you and a way that you really are. Be who you really are, don’t live up to those false expectations people have for you (or that you have for yourself)!

Just remember, God has you right where he wants you. He will carry you through it all and you will come out so much better in the end!

So dance without shame! Jump around! Laugh loudly! Sing with all your heart and soul! You are so loved!

All my heart, Slightly Older (and maybe wiser?) Katie