A Message to My 14Year Old Self

You’re amazing. Just the way you are.

When I was 14, I was so clueless.

I was a bookworm who still believed in fairy tale happy endings in spite of seeing my parent’s marriage disintegrating slowly in front of me.

Boys were still aliens from another planet, since I only had sisters and no way to prove otherwise.

Oh, and sisters were little fiends who wore your clothes to school and hid your diary (for later reading and taunting).

But if I could through some miracle or a secret wormhole, go back in time and give my 14-yr old self some advice, this is what I’d like to say to her:

💥Speak your mind more often. Don’t be mean about it, but it’s okay to just tell others what you think and feel. They won’t be nearly as upset or surprised as you think. In fact, they just might admire you for it. Or make you president of something.

💥Stay just the way you are. Don’t try to change for anyone else.

💥It’s okay to be a late bloomer, to keep your nose in books, to spend hours walking through the woods by yourself.

💥Keep believing in rainbows and happy endings. Keep telling other people everything will be okay. Because it really will.

I’d hug her and say, “You are wonderful just the way you are and don’t ever let anyone tell you differently!”

Some things you learn later, after you’ve been through a few fiery trials or survived your diary being read and quoted back to you. But those lessons plus a grateful heart, can make you a better person if you let them.

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Keep smiling. Things really are going to be okay. 😉