I’ve been meaning to write this to you for a while now. It’s a scary world. Things change every day. If you’re anything like me and hate change, you’ll be terrified to grow up in the world we know today. The truth is, it may be an entirely different world when you come around. I am writing this letter to express some things I hope for you, some things I want to let you know to make sure you’re prepared for whatever life brings.
The most wonderful thing about being human is the ability we possess to grow from our wisdom.
The thing about humanity is that what we know is usually masked by uncertainty. We wander through life aimlessly, clueless about what to do or say. We only act the way we think is the right, and hope that we’ll end up somewhere. We’re completely and totally vulnerable to change, but it’s coming whether we're ready for it or not.
We get older, we get grey hairs, we sweat, we shiver, we exhale, and we hold our breath. We brace ourselves, we prepare, we pray, we dream. We share life, we talk, and we disagree. But, we still manage to develop our own knowledge of the inner workings of this world. We learn how to share the pain with others. We learn how to spread joy. We learn from others about what didn’t know before; allowing us to use any innate knowledge to it’s full potential.
My first piece of advice to you would be to allow yourself to be open to the teachings of others. We are often too stubborn to learn from our own experience, so a great deal of wisdom comes from the outside. View every new person you meet as a source of unimaginable beauty and wisdom that you have never experienced before. Never be afraid to let people surprise you and never be afraid of a change of pace.
Your heart will be broken at some point in your life.
Recovery is difficult. A reminder that I wish I had received much sooner is that at times, an emphasis on self-love is healing. You will be told time and time again that the key to true love is finding someone who sees you wholly, and loves you unconditionally, despite any flaws. The truth is that for most of the world, this is difficult to find.
My darling, if love truly knew no bounds, power would exist without purpose. If we had access to unfathomable love, what a place the world would be. Sometimes, you will find partners who make it difficult to see the benefits of sharing any part of yourself with someone else, subjecting you to pain and heartache. In times of loneliness, it is important to remember that the goal of love is knowing the one whose eyes find the beauty within you that knows no equal, even if those eyes are your own. If in order to find love elsewhere you need to be first fully confident in the half you present to other people to match, that is okay.
A thought about beauty.
I’ve got news for you. This world makes it hard for anyone to feel beautiful. You’ll often hear this expression “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” This is so unbelievably, so unfortunately true. We are consistently bombarded by images of what other people believe to be beautiful. What makes the navigation and interpretation of these images so difficult, is that they are all opposite from one another. It is nearly impossible to form an ideal image of yourself without taking these overwhelming pictures into account.
In character and in beauty, you will hold yourself to the impossibly high standards that others set for you. What is most important to remember, is that your ability to form your own idea of what is beautiful, untainted by the ideas of others, shows phenomenal strength. You live in a world where men and women are both held to ridiculously high standards of beauty. The world likes to take credit for a movement towards a less shallow image of loveliness. Companies advertise products that give someone the natural look. The tragic flaw here is that the world will still attempt to sell you tips, tricks, and products to help you achieve this effortless look, yet the resounding message remains that how you look matters above all else.
It’s hard to practice any level of self-love when we are consistently told that we are not enough. I want to emphasize the importance of strengthening your mind. Intelligence and emotional strength are of incredible value, and maintaining a positive outlook in times of adversity and consistently gaining knowledge to be shared with others will unlock strength that cannot be bought or sold. A beautiful woman will grab people’s attention, a wise woman will grab people’s attention and inspire them to move mountains. Allow beauty to be a side effect of the strength of your opinions. There is a quote by one of my favorite children’s book authors, Roald Dahl, that illustrates this point rather well: “If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely”.
Our world is a dangerous world for those who want to change it.
I encourage you to fearlessly inspire others to find what they want most, and to work towards it with every fiber of their being. Don’t be someone else’s idea of a hardworking woman, be a force to be reckoned with. Cultivate your strength and pursue your desires, kicking ass and taking names. If you no longer allow the doubts of others to access your mind, your inhibitions will be released and you will tap into remarkable power. You will receive messages from birth, telling you to think in a way that doesn’t step on toes and that doesn’t change people’s minds. I encourage you to communicate with confidence, making your goal to teach, to inspire, to step on toes, and to dream without bounds. When you escape the oppressive shelter of your mind and the minds of other people, life knows no limits.
Loving you already.
