Dear Me,
Some things you need to read when you are going through it, having a strange day, or simply need a word of encouragement.
1. Not everyone is going to like you. Period.
This is something that I tend to struggle with day to day and need to be reminded of often. I have been trying to teach myself that no matter how nice you are, how caring, funny, intelligent, etc... there are going to be people who think you are not that great. Accept it, do not try to gain their affection by acting phony or unlike yourself. Be yourself, and the right people will swarm to you like bees go to honey.
2. If you are having a bad day, clean your room.
It might seem like torture, and at first, it truly is. But as your room becomes a clean slate, as does your mind. It is just a proven fact that one's personal space and cleanliness is directly correlated with how their life is going at the given moment. And at times, your room just looks horrible. But take the tip, and clean it. You will surely feel some relief, even if it just in the visual aesthetic sense.
3. No matter how many times love has knocked you down, still choose to love fiercely and unapologetically.
People can make you feel used and jaded like you do not deserve love and like love does not deserve you. Never change how you love just because of the way other people respond (or don't respond) to it. Because you are the person who holds out for hope. Deep down you are the girl who believes in bumping into another hopeless romantic in a coffee shop. Don't lose the spark inside of you. There's someone that will be lit up by it.
4. Reading and writing poetry always lifts you up and makes you have a deep realization, do it more often.
School is going to get intense soon and you are going to feel the weight of life. Poetry lets you access your creative and emotional outlets in a really healthy way, and you always come out the other end feeling enlightened. Take fifteen minutes out of the day, free write for five minutes, read for the next ten. There is no harm in doing small things you love.
5. Date yourself, date yourself, date yourself.
Technically not my own advice to yourself, but my dad's advice to you. Something you need to actively do. Spending time alone, learning about yourself will, in turn, teach you what you need from others and how you deserve to be treated. Get sushi by yourself, go to the record store and listen to music alone, sit in the park and write. You need self-discovery before you need someone to discover you.
6. There are going to be naysayers in whatever you are passionate in, do not listen.
People are entitled to their opinions, but they should have no effect on you doing what you truly love. If you want to publish your poems, do it no matter the rejection. If you want to join the Peace Corps and help children with mental illness abroad, do it no matter the risk involved. This is your life, not anyone else's.
7. Allow yourself to be sad, acknowledge the feeling and let it sit there, it won't be there forever.
The worst thing you can do to yourself is to push down feelings of sadness because they are just going to build up and explode at some point. Don't let it get that far. Just because you have a sad hour doesn't mean it is a sad day or a sad week or a sad life. Without bad, there is no good, without dark no light and without sad, no happy. Balance is key.
8. Speak up for what you believe in, do not quell the strong voice inside of you, even around those who are older and claim to be smarter.
Sometimes you have trouble saying what you really feel, especially when others around you make you uncomfortable. Let the voice inside of you out and let her speak because she is smart and kind and passionate and knows what she is talking about. People will tell you to quiet down your opinions and beliefs because you are young, or a woman, or simply because your opinion is different from theirs. Say it anyway.
9. Being popular is not important and does not measure how good you are as a person.
Hello, younger self. You are sitting in middle school with your two best friends - who still are your best friends today - gossiping about the cutest boy in your grade. You think to yourself "He'll never like me, I'm a smart girl in the smart classes and I have braces." It kills me now to think of you putting yourself down because you are an intelligent woman. No matter what boys or girls like or do not like you, stay true to yourself. Yes, it's hard at thirteen years old and will be even harder at eighteen in college, but it is worth it.
10. Embrace imperfection.
Nothing about your life is perfect and it would not be crazy and beautiful if it was. Some things are downright horrible which you have been through, some confusing, some good and everything in between. Accept the life you were given and seize it because it does not last forever. Next time you look in the mirror, instead of seeing the way your back creases, look at the beautiful curve of your shoulders and your smile. Run your fingers through your hair and be grateful you have it. Stretch your arms toward the ground and then to the sky and remember all the things to be thankful for. The people you love are rooting for you. The universe is rooting for you. I am rooting for you.
Sincerely,
Yourself
