Dear Future Self,

I don't know where you are at this moment, what you might be doing, or who you might be with. First things first, I hope you are happy.

Maybe you dropped out of college. Maybe you are graduated with a DVM like you always dreamed. Maybe you are dropping your kids off at soccer practice or cooking dinner for your family. Maybe you are out at the bar with your girl friends for a night, away from school. Maybe you're picking out a wedding dress or going to your baby shower.

Whatever it is you may be doing, I hope you are happy.

I hope you did everything to the best of your ability. I hope you didn't give up on your dreams because they seemed too far out of hand.

I hope you didn't give up on the person you loved because you were too busy trying to make a living.

I hope you are giving it your all in everything that you do every day because the truth of the matter is, nothing comes easy. If you are working hard and doing all you can possibly do to succeed, then I'm proud.

Right now, I'm striving to achieve my goals and my dreams. My 19-year-old self-hopes that my future self, in ten years, is graduated with a DVM, is married and is genuinely happy. Life has a funny way of changing things up on you, so these might not be my dreams an hour from now, a year from now, or even ten years from now.

My advice to you is keep chasing your future self. Keep chasing the person you want to be in five years, ten years, thirty years even. Keep setting goals and achieve each of them one by one.

If the case is that you are feeling unworthy, unsuccessful, and unhappy, I want you to know a few things.

You graduated high school. You went to your dream school for college. You stopped listening to what other people wanted you to be and started listening to what your heart wanted. You started to do and study something you loved. Maybe you found something else you loved and found it too hard. Maybe you realized what you were doing wasn't what you wanted and just quit looking.

Realize this: You have successfully completed many things in your life. You have been a mentor to many young people aspiring to be the person you have already become. You have loved to your greatest ability and have passed many tests. You have had an outrageous amount of struggles and obstacles and you have overcome them. You have had people treat you poorly and you have realized your worth. You have become wiser than you were when you were 16-years-old. You have become smarter than you were when you finished high school. You have become even more loved than you were when you came into the world.

There is so much more knowledge to be known. There are many more tests to take. There is more love to be taken and given and there are more obstacles to overcome.

I am chasing you right now. I hope you are still chasing your future self.

Sincerely,

My 19-Year-Old Self