Dear Little Me,

Hey sweet girl, It's me, us, just a little more grown up. I've learned some things along the way, and I want to share them with you.

First of all, let me tell you, your heart is too pure for this world. You're going to see the best in everyone and want to believe everything everyone tells you. Sweetie, there's absolutely nothing wrong with seeing the glass half full, but don't ignore the warning signs that light up saying, "Hey, maybe they're not telling the truth. Maybe they don't have my best intentions at heart."

I know you, and I know you want to believe everyone has good intentions, but that's not the case sometimes. You learned that the hard way, but it's okay because you will grow tremendously from it.

Listen to me closely: You. Are. Beautiful. You are kind, you are free-spirited, you are down to earth, humble, creative, and freaking weird (in the best way possible). You are a peacemaker. Your aura radiates sunlight in every direction and attracts the kindest of souls.

Sweet girl, you're going to forget that along the way. You're going to forget who you are and what you stand for, drifting into the waves and conforming to everything else around you, you're going to lose yourself.

It's going to feel like you're drowning, lost in an immense ocean with no idea as to where you are or where you're going. You're going to lose faith, in yourself, in the world, In God, in everything.

But sweetie, keep swimming.

Because I promise you that one day, you're going to find the shore.

You will find your way back to yourself. You will become stronger and develop a new sense of confidence we both know you've always had in you, it just took you a while to realize it was yours.

You're going to make some questionable decisions along the way, decisions that make you lose sight of yourself, who you are, and what you stand for, but your loved ones will keep you anchored.

Your best friend Christine? She's didn't go anywhere, don't worry. You still are and always will be best friends. You are closer than ever and she was there for you when you weren't there for yourself.

Your soulmate Ashlee? Don't worry, she's still your best friend too. And yes, you still have the most wonderful conversations and she still holds your hand like a crab.

And Dani? ...Of course. You dragged her to college with you. And you don't know what you would do without her.

Now I need you to listen to me.

You are not a burden. You are not worthless, and you are most definitely not ordinary. You are one of a kind.

And you're going to wonder why you feel the way you do sometimes, and think that you are different and shouldn't feel this way, but this is just a part of growing up. It's how you become, well, me.

No, we're not done growing, we still have a lot of work to do, but see, the difference is now... we have hope.

We have faith.

We have drive.

We have confidence.

And we have strength.

And we have a growing relationship with God.

We're not done with this little journey thing called life. I'm still growing and changing everyday, but I know things are going to be okay, and I am excited for the future and everything I will accomplish and experience.

You hear that? Excited!! Not scared.

Sweetie, I know this letter will never reach you, and maybe it's not supposed to be like that. Maybe that would be way too easy.

But I can't wait for the day when you wake up and feel important, loved, and a strong sense of self. When you start appreciating who you are as an individual and loving yourself as much as others love you.

When you start setting and achieving goals for yourself that you always had the capacity to reach, just not the mindset.

When you finally understand that as scary as it is, you have no idea what's going to happen in your future, only God does, and he's laid you in his arms to lead you there.

But you're here, you're here now, and it's only getting better by the day.

Just hold on a little longer, sweetie. The journey is rough, but it's so worth it.