Letter To My Younger Self

If only I could go back in time and breathe more confidence into you, I would do that as quickly as I could get there.

I don't know where down the road you began to doubt your value and self-worth, where you began to shift your thinking into feeling small and insecure instead of empowered and driven. I can think of a handful of events that might have shifted how you saw yourself, but guess what: those were fleeting.

You lived off of assumptions instead of pursuing truth. You defined yourself by your actions instead of who you were created to be. And that's where you fell short that settling was a consequence because you thought you just weren't as worthy of happiness as everyone else.

You will be happy again, and it won't come all at once. You'll be lonely sometimes and cry about how broken you feel. The people that made you this way will become the people you thank in a year. That may sound so hard to believe, but looking back almost three years later, I'm thankful for all my heartbreaking experiences. Most importantly, you learn to forgive people for who they are and how they hurt you. I'm here to tell you that's 100 percent possible.

Get comfortable being alone. I know right now you see this as a death sentence or an indication of your social incompetence, but you will thank yourself for it later. Learning how to become comfortable with yourself the biggest gift you can give yourself. At the end of the day, when your life feels like it's falling apart, the only person that's really going to be there for you is you.

.Be open to new experiences and new people. Now I won't ruin your college experience so far for you but I just want you to know sometimes you're wrong about people. I know you commend yourself on your judge of character and your feelings, but you're going to be wrong. When someone comes along and offers you an experience, take it. You can never have too many friends, too many experiences or too many mistakes that you learned from. In the next three years, you'll learn how short life really is and the importance of

You are SO strong and you don't even realize it yet. My final words of advice are this: pick your friends wisely but don't beat yourself up if you realize that they aren't your people. Friends come and go all the time. They may say hurtful words, but I promise you, you'll joke about every single day. You know exactly who you are, even when you're heartbroken and even though you're hurting. You are strong, nice, kind, and most importantly unapologetic about who you are. Last but certainly not least, life will not go as you plan because, let's be real here, you plan and God laughs. But regardless, you will love who you are in a way you never ever thought you would.

There's so much experience and heartbreak ahead of you, but you have the strength to conquer all of it.

"You have a big and beautiful future ahead of you. Don't stand in the shadows thinking you're not good enough. Don't live in your assumptions and perceptions, and don't define yourself by what youthinkpeople think about you. Stop comparing and hold up a mirror.Step into who you were made to me RIGHT NOW. Don't waste time and don't overthink things. So what if you aren't perfect?All of the things you think matter, don't, and all of the really big stuff that matters is where you're going to be next. Forget your insecurities because they don't exist. You have a purpose. Now get out there and live it."