A Letter to My Younger Self

Dear Younger Self,

This letter has been a long time coming. Here’s some things that I want to say to you. (Also can I say it is very strange trying to write to yourself).

There are five things that I want you to know.

1. Parting your hair all the way to the side was NOT a good idea. It looks better in a middle parting for sure. It should not have been that far over, someone should have told you that.
2. That boy who said he loves you… he doesn’t. He’ll pretend he’ll love you on and off for about four years. You’ll get sick of him eventually—hate to break it to you but he’s not the one.
3. Keep on writing. People love your fanfiction and they’ll keep reading it even after you decide you don’t want to write it anymore!
4. I want you to know that going to school will be the best days of your life. After school, life is kind of like hell. Enjoy school as much as you can, be grateful you’re getting an education, and make as many friends as you can! School popularity doesn’t mean anything in the real world, so make friends with whoever the fuck you want!
5. You won’t go to university. I know you’ve been thinking about it since you were little. You’ve created a plan in your head that says you’ll go to university… but you won’t. I want you to know that it won’t make you any worse of a person and I promise you won’t miss out on anything. Instead of going to uni, you’ll move out of your parent's house with a boy you haven’t met yet. You’ll get a job and do an online writing course. Life will be good.

As well as wanting to let you know some things, I think it’s important to tell you about what you will learn.

1. You’ll learn that not everyone is your friend. You’ll fall out with people, you’ll randomly stop talking to people, and you’ll realise that some people hung around you at school just for convenience. You’ll learn that it’ll break your heart, but eventually you’ll come to accept it. Unfortunately, it’s just the way it is.
2. You’ll also learn you’re strong as hell. Maybe not physically, but mentally you are. You’ll go through some shit. Heartbreak, grief, something worse than those two things. But you’ll get through it. You’re strong, belief in that.
3. You’ll learn to love yourself. Even if you don’t become body confident, you’ll become body comfortable. You’ll learn to love every single part of you. You won’t mind your stretch marks; you won’t care about your thick thighs and your birthmark won’t bother you anymore. You’ll embrace your body and that’s fab!
4. You’ll learn what love is. You’ll break up with people and even though it’ll hurt, eventually you’ll laugh back at the terrible relationship you thought you loved. You’ll meet someone new. They’ll show you what true love is.
5. You’ll learn that you’ll want to do it all over again. You’ll crave your younger years when you didn’t have to pay rent, when you weren’t so interested in politics and you weren’t worried about the planet dying. You’ll learn that even though you want to go back to the past, you’ll realise that you are the future and the actions you take might help change the world. Even if you don’t change the world, you might be able to change your own life for the better, and that’s pretty cool.

You’ve got this.

Lots of love, your future self.