Dear Me,

Its January, the first month of a brand new year, the time we all seek for a fresh start. The common line we all say when reflecting on 365 days is, “it wasn’t my year.” I know that 2016 wasn’t your year, I know you struggled. Remember, you’re never alone, it probably wasn’t ANYONES year. Shouldn’t you be happy though? Don’t you want this fresh start? Wishing for clean slate on a particular day is easier said than done, but it is never impossible. The first steps toward change is breaking out of your shell and opening up to share your thoughts. I know, you’re not one to ever share your thoughts, you’ve mastered this technique over the last few years called: “bottling things up.” But you know your hidden therapy, or rather, your passion that you unfortunately lost sight of these last few years, is your ability to write. Your words, ideas, goals and feelings matter, never forget that. Write down your thoughts, enrich your mind, be creative, share your short and long term goals with yourself every single day.

The constant battle that seems to always arise and interfere with all these spectacular, optimistic visions is our own self-discovery. Accepting that you are not your true-self is something many cannot fathom or realize. I know that you have felt as though these last few years you have been someone you are not. You have gone through a lot of extremely hard times, though everyone has. I will always continue to remind you that you’re never alone. Ask yourself right now, who are you? Who do you want to be? What do you want to contribute to this world?

Think about it, the advice given during any time of hardship is to, “take a step out of the box,” that way you can miraculously realize a solution. Haven’t we all thought that we have felt this way? The difference is, the feeling you think you have felt is temporary, simply an in the moment fix, allowing you to step right back into that box once the feeling is resolved. Ultimately during these times, you were lost. The feeling I know you have felt and that I want you to continue to feel is stepping back, completely removing yourself, but NEVER even bringing a toe close to stepping back inside. It’s a scary feeling to be honest, and it is certainly an eye opener. But for you, that day was a blessing, it felt as though you were in a long dream and you simply “snapped” out of it. You found yourself, and you couldn’t believe how long it took to finally feel “you” again. You know how this process feels, but some are confused and others do not have any idea of where to start. Go out there, be a helping hand, and inspire others to live their life with their own rules.

The new year’s resolutions I want to leave you with is simply accepting your self worth and remembering who you are. You’re bubbly, smiley, cheerful, saying anything funny with no filter, care-free, adventurous, nothing but full of life and togetherness. Those traits were all clouded by other’s perceptions, expectations, status, and constant drama. Never allow that to happen again, promise? Look what you’ve accomplished now, you were able to start right where you left off by doing things in life that once were important to you, that quickly seemed to fade over the last few years. Writing for fun, hiking, exploring, taking pictures, making videos, listening to music you enjoy, keeping in touch with old true friends, being engaged with your family, and most importantly loving your life. Remember the sun doesn’t shine bright everyday, clouds and rain won’t always be stated in the forecast. When all your hardships and negative thoughts seem to all cross paths at the same exact moment, never lose sight of the person you truly are. Again, it’s easier said than done but remind yourself of your journey and your destinations. At this age, half of the people you meet are immature, and the other, a clear maturity is demonstrated. You have encountered nothing but constant obstacles, multiple fake friends, rumors, adversity, you name it, it probably happened. Sometimes it felt as though you never even had time to come up for air at some points. Most importantly remember this, what 2016 has taught you is that if someone wants to be loyal, dedicated, or honest to you, they’re going to do it. If someone makes you feel as though you are nothing, willingly goes against you, or upsets you than it is clear that they don’t deserve you. Blocking out the pointless drama that many of us thrive over, cutting ties that were meant to be cut and saying what’s really on your mind for the last few months has been nothing but the most amazing, indescribable feeling. People are going to come and go throughout your life for a reason, and the ones that will remain will continue to prove that they would do anything for your happiness and would never try to hurt you. If someone doesn’t like YOU for who YOU are, then they too don’t deserve you.

Honestly think about how many times you’ve felt like you weren’t yourself, experienced hardships amongst your peers, dwelled over irrelevant things, or regret taking a chance you should’ve taken? Let it all go, and be YOU. Make this your day one. If you want to do something in your life, what’s stopping you? Never let what other people think about you, or what society expects from you to influence your life and your choices. If you share something that you enjoy, there is no need for anyone to judge you. If you want to explore a certain place anywhere in the world, go do it! If you double post on Instagram, whatever, you enjoyed your day! Who cares anymore, because this is your life and it’s only what you make of it. Take opportunities, take chances, and seize every single day! If someone doesn’t have anything nice to say, just think why are they even wasting a second thinking about it? Dwelling over negatives it no way to live life.

Now the only thing that’s missing that I haven’t expressed is how proud I am of you. I couldn’t be happier how far you have come, how different you are and the driven attitude you have developed. You are so strong. Each year that goes by tends to not be anyone’s year, but please do me one favor, and never stop chasing your dreams. You’re young, happy, free, and you deserve nothing but to find happiness, do things that make you feel positive, continue to find your true-self, and to surround yourself with love. Not every year will be filled with sunshine’s and rainbows, but what is going to make 2017 stand out for you? Have you really been living your life the way you want to live it? If there’s anything you double take about, change it, now is the time. I know you can do it. Always remember, you’re never alone, and the best is yet to come. I can’t wait for the letter filled with adventures you’ll write to me next year. I have a feeling its going to be a good one.

With love,

Me