A Letter To My 18-Year Old Self

Dear Meredith,

As you are experiencing you first taste of adulthood, beginning college, and finding yourself, I want to help out as much as I can. In these next years, life is going to throw things at you and be extremely difficult at times; I want you to be prepared for this and be able to fight whatever life is going to put you through. In this letter I'm going to give you 4 pieces of advice that may help you out in the years to come. I don't want you to just read this letter and move on, I want you to read this letter and use these pieces of advice as a guide to get you through life.

1. "Love yourself". I can't stress the importance of this enough. You have to love yourself! You are your most important person and you need to understand that. You're beautiful and absolutely amazing! You deserve to be loved by you because that is the best kind of love. I know that your self-esteem is low and that you don't see your worth, but girl you are so worth it! Be selfish with your love and give most of it to yourself because you deserve nothing but to be loved the most.

2. "Hold on to your morals". Please don't let these go! Don't forget what you were raised on and what you have put your faith in the last 18 years. Holding on to your morals is so important for these upcoming years; your morals will define the things you do, people you surround yourself with, and the decisions you make. Even if your morals are different than a majority of the people around you, don't let go of them; they are the most important thing you can possess.

3. "Stay who you are". Don't change! I love who you are and you are too special to be different! It is so important to stay who you are and not allow anyone to change that. You are perfectly fine the way you are and if someone doesn't like that they don't deserve you. When you lose yourself it is very hard to rediscover yourself because you almost forget who you were; don't allow that to happen. You are too precious to lose.

4. "Don't give your heart to just anyone". Your heart is so valuable and it deserves to be treated as such. Only give it to a good man who loves God, respects you, loves you, and has the same morals that you do. Giving your heart to the wrong person will truly wreck you and ruin the great person you are. You only have one future husband and you will know when you are with him; until you know, be careful with your heart. Your heart is a treasure and it deserves to be treated as so.

I hope these pieces of advice help you in the years to come as there are many good and bad times ahead of you. Allow these pieces of advice to guide you in your decision making, who you allow to influence you, and how you live your life. Some advice is better than others, and this is definitely an example of that advice.

Love,

Meredith