I can’t help but feel fear for the child who wishes to grow up before she needs to. I was her at one point in time, and now, even though I love where I am at now I wish I had a few more years as a young girl who is still ignorant about the world.

I wish I had taken the time to dream a little more. I wish I hadn’t planned out my entire life at twelve years old, instead of enjoying that last year before becoming a teenager. I wish someone had told me that whatever plans I had in mind then would likely be destroyed by the time I was nineteen. I wish I had still dreamed of becoming a singer or an actress at that age. Those careers sound a lot more extravagant then the adult one that I’m working towards now. Do not get me wrong, one day when I reach my goal career, I believe I will be more than happy and satisfied. In complete honesty though, sometimes the red carpet and fancy dresses I see on television still make me fall into daydreams. I wish I had put just a little more hope into beautiful goals like those when I was twelve, instead of looking at what careers pay the most.

When I was fifteen, I loved being young, but at the same time, I just wanted to do something with my life. I wasn’t satisfied with simply spending time with friends and going to school. The problem with doing something with your life at that age though is from that point on people expect more and more. If I had been simply satisfied with my life and age, I wouldn’t have so much pressure placed on my shoulders today.

Growing up will come eventually, so there is no point rushing into it. I hope the children who want to graduate and go off to college realize that college isn’t always fun. It’s a lot of missing home and stressing over a hundred deadlines. At the same time, college is an eye-opening experience that you need the rest of your life to build up to. Children and teenagers need to appreciate the schools they attend and the friends that they have in the current moment. They need to recognize that those places and people won’t always be in their lives.

I wish I had taken a step back from my dreams to realize that growing up wasn’t the answer to happiness. Happiness comes from being able to appreciate the little things in live, and when someone is only wishing for the future, they are incapable of truly taking in the world around them.

Dear children, I request that you examine the world around you instead of planning for the reality that won’t occur for many years. I hope you fall asleep wondering when you will be discovered as the next big celebrity. I hope you dance around your bedroom to your favorite songs. I hope you appreciate your friends and have slumber parties as often as possible. For your sake, I hope you love who you are, so that your future will actually be what you want it to be, not something that makes you question your past decisions.

I dream that you take in every moment with a smile for the rest of your beautiful, extraordinary life, no matter where it may take you.