Dear 10-Year-Old me,

How are you? How’s it going? I’m sure life seems wonderful and grand. It’s summertime and you’re spending your time at the pool, running around outside, and eating popsicles to your heart (and your stomach’s desire). But as I am sitting here writing this after a long day at my internship, I want to tell you some things. You will grow up to have a great life with a great family and support system, but life only gets harder. And it changes. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, but there are plenty of days that I wish I could go back and be ten again. Of course, I love being able to drive and pursue higher education and get married someday in the future, but some days, I wish I could go back to a life with minimal responsibilities and maximum fun. The reason that I am writing to you is to tell you some things that I wished you had known moving forward.

When boys hit you, it doesn’t mean they like you. And when they’re mean, don’t stand for it. When boys are mean, don’t act like it’s normal and OK. You are more than that, and allowing them to take advantage of you will lead to a long life of abuse and needed therapy (trust me). Don’t hang out with the troublemakers; hang out with the kid who reads books on the playground. I promise, you will learn so much more and have so much more meaningful conversation with them. Don’t be too excited to grow up. Play dress up all you want, but don’t feel like you have to all of the time. Don’t let people tell you who you want to be. You want to be a princess when you grow up? A mermaid? A doctor? An astronaut? A racecar driver? There is no reason that you can’t be those things. Spend time outside; make lasting friendships. The friends that you make now will be your forever friends. Get tan by playing in the water, not by sitting and tanning on the outside of the pool. Get your exercise in by chasing your friends around outside. There is no reason to be vain at the age of 10. Our society has skewed so much of what children think of themselves, don’t let society do that to you.

Enjoy every day because, before you know it, you will be 20 years old, looking back and wondering where the second half of your life has gone. So go out there and play; get dirty, and live life as a 10-year-old, not anything more than that.

With love,

Me