1. Don’t sell yourself short

You have this horrible habit of putting yourself down, past-me. You’re constantly thinking negative things about yourself. You tell yourself that you’re too weird, too different, too loud, too this, too that. You tell yourself that you’re not worth much; you joke that your organs are more valuable than your personality. You hate how reserved you are around new people and new situations. I wish that you could see what I see now when I look back, past-me. I don’t see someone who’s too anything. I see someone who has the potential to overcome the curve balls that life likes to throw. I see someone determined. I see someone who holds on to friends for life. I see someone amazing. You should too.

2. It’s okay to have emotions

I know, emotions are scary. You haven’t felt things in so long without the haze of depression turning things grey. You’re scared to be overjoyed, livid, melancholy, or any other strong emotion because you aren’t used to it. You feel like you’ve just opened your own, personal, Pandora’s Box and now you don’t know how to deal with the aftermath. You want to deal with it, you want to feel again, but you don’t know how. You can’t help but wonder if you will ever learn how to feel at a pace that isn’t “dulled” or “all at once.” You will. It will take time, and it will be a rocky road filled with some regrettable decisions, but you’ll learn how to get a handle on your emotions. This doesn’t mean that you’ll suppress them, like you did to cope, but you’ll let them happen and learn to understand them. You’ll also learn how to reign them in when they do get out of control. You should look forward to it.

3. You are strong

I know that you think that’s a lie. I know that you don’t feel strong. You feel trapped. You feel useless. You feel weaker than weak. You feel like you’ll never amount to anything. But I’m here to tell you that you aren’t any of those things. Sure, you’re in a bad situation and you don’t think you have the means to get out. Sure, you’re pushing all of your friends away. But I want you to know that you are so, so strong. You’ll be strong when you get yourself out of that bad situation. You’ll be strong when you make new friends. You’ll be strong and amazing. You should look forward to that too.

4. Everything is going to be okay.

I know this feels like it’s endless. Like you’ll never get out. Like you’re doomed to live as you are right now, scared and sad and in a state of self-wrought loneliness. It’s not. You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be able to look back on all of this and feel proud at how far you’ve come through your own determination. You’re going to be able to say “I stood up for myself, and made my life so much better.” You just have to take the first step. You know what it is.