This week we were all asked to write a letter to our past and or our future selves. I personally chose my past which has allowed spending time thinking and reflecting on my time here on earth. Eighteen years is a long time when you truly think about it but clearly doesn’t feel that long. Yet, it is crazy to think about all these things I’ve experienced throughout my life. I wanted to take the time to reflect on how I treated myself in the past in ways that I didn’t even realize were affecting me until I grew up.
Dear little me,
The world feels so big, but you are so small. Every situation you are put in feels like a huge wave knocking you out. You cant make choices because every time you try, your brain is filled with a potential list of all the things that could go wrong. You don’t understand why you feel this way, you don’t understand why everyone else seems to go with the flow, yet you always need a play-by-play, or you just cant get through the day. Take a deep breath; I promise you everything will be ok. Life will go on no matter what type of shoes you wear to school that day, life will go on no matter how often it feels like everyone in the room is staring at you, and life will go on no matter how often these feelings are prevalent. It may seem like everything little choice you make will impact your life in a major way, but I can promise you that the more time you spend in this mindset will only set you back even more. Live your life. You are still so young. You have so much time ahead of you, so don’t spend the worry-free childhood years well…. worrying. Now I’ve talked a lot about letting these thoughts go and not letting them control you, but at the same time, it’s ok. It’s called anxiety and it’s 100 percent ok to have. It’s a piece of you, don’t dwell on it. It’s ok to have these feelings so don’t kick yourself around over it, it’s a part of life, and I can promise you that your peers experience these feelings as well, even if doesn’t appear. They try to keep them to themselves just as you do. I can promise you everything will be ok, Cassidy.
Sincerely, future you