Growing up, you were the girl who was unstoppable. You had the world at your fingertips ever since you could remember. All you needed was an opportunity to step up and lead and you knew that was where you'd thrive. You never cracked under pressure, you loved it. You were always busy, but you liked it that way. You had a competitive nature that kept you driven and focused on your goals. You had a fire in you that nothing and nobody could put out.

You kept this up for a long time. You made the grades or you were the best on your team or you just had it all together. You were motivated to check things off your mental to-do list every single day and, my gosh, it felt good when you did. You didn't tell anyone you wanted to be the best at everything, but you thought, why not? You thought nobody could keep up with you because you knew exactly what you wanted from life, even at fourteen years old.

High school came around, you were feeling like the world was your oyster. It was another stage for you to shine on. You were nervous, but you always got nervous before stuff, it was no big deal. There were so many new faces, you couldn't wait to meet every single one. It also terrified you, though. So many things happened at once: your first leadership position, your first game as a varsity athlete, your first dance, your first new friend. You were riding the high that you had dreamed of. To most people, these were ordinary events in the life of an ordinary high schooler, but to you, this was part of your dream. Something about it all scared you, but everything was going to be perfect because that was how you planned it and that's how it works.

Except that's not how it works. Something inside you began to dim. Those times you would get scared before speaking in front of a crowd became more and more frequent and before you knew it you were terrified to even read in front of your class. Eventually, you were nervous to play the sport you loved because you kept asking yourself, "What if I mess up in front of everyone?"

You had never given yourself room to fail because everything you did was perfect, it had to be. You cracked. It wasn't flashy, the world didn't stop, but you shut yourself down. Reaching goals left and right didn't seem like fun anymore and suddenly you didn't flourish when you had to hold a leadership position, you dreaded it. So, you just stopped. And that was that.

You, the girl who everyone was rooting for, let your fears overtake you. Nobody saw it coming, not even you. You can't really explain why it happened, but you couldn't just bounce back from something like that. It sounds silly to some people, but they wouldn't understand it. Your life just flipped upside down. On one shoulder was your fears and on the other was a list of "what if" questions, weighing you down from just going for it, taking your ideas and running with them, like you always had.

High school was flying by, but you couldn't wait for it to be over because you kept thinking it had to get better, it had to. It got bad, really bad. It got worse than ever and you convinced yourself that it would be like this forever. What happened to the girl who wanted everything from life, and then some? What happened to the girl who couldn't be stopped? The girl who wouldn't slow down for anyone or anything? You did it all, why can't you do one little thing now? What are you afraid of?

You can't explain what you're afraid of. Your anxiety takes over sometimes and you tell yourself you can't possibly fight back. It might take everything in you, but you can fight back. It may take months or even years for you to get back to the outgoing, world-at-her-feet girl you were, but she's still there. She's still waiting for people to listen to her dreams, her ideas, her big, big plans. The rest of your life is not defined by that bump in the road, as much as you try to disagree with me.

We can't quite put into words what made us just quit. Something inside us told us our goals weren't worth it anymore and we believed it. We can't really put into words what made us keep going, either. Maybe we saw everything we were missing out on. Maybe it was the memories of that fiery girl who had so many goals and plans and dreams she just couldn't keep track. And maybe, we missed her.

If something is telling you that everything you're working towards isn't worth it, I'm here to tell you whatever it is, whoever it is, is wrong. You are the only person who has control over your future and if you're passionate about something, you should be so passionate about it that you go to sleep thinking about it, dream about it, and then wake up in the morning thinking about it again. Your dreams aren't crazy, your goals aren't impossible, and your plans have a purpose. You've got this.

Sincerely,

The girl whose fire went out, but she's getting it back.