Dear me,

I am writing to you from college. I am not sure what age you are, but it doesn’t matter. I know this is something we’ve always struggled with. I want you to remember who you are. Always remember who you are.

I think it is ironic that it took us until now to realize we’ve always been happy, we just didn’t understand the meaning of that happiness.  I know we’ve struggled with our identity in the past. Hating everything we thought was wrong with us, not realizing we were perfect. Stop pretending to be like everyone. I know it’s hard, especially because of where we live. I know everyone seems like they have it all, and we have nothing, but that’s not true. Everything we’ve been through has made us stronger than those around us. Why would we want to change that? Each time we pretend to be someone else, hoping for an identity we understand, we move farther from it.  We get caught up in the dream of perfection, thinking because of everything, that we can never be perfect. Don’t be afraid of what we’ve gone through. I want you to accept it. You don’t have to be proud, but accept that it has shaped us for better and worse. Don’t run from it, don’t push it away. It’s apart of us.  It’s going to be okay, eventually, I promise. I’m from the future, so I know 🙂 I just want it to be easier on you than it was for me.

You need to hear this because it’s going to get harder. It’s going to get unbearably tough and you’re going to give up. I have to tell you this, so you don’t give up. No one told me what I’m telling you and it made everything so much worse. I don’t want you to go the same way so I’m hoping this helps.

You’re strong and you’re beautiful and you have already proved you can do anything. You are perfect to me.

Love always,

me