Letter to Me @ 16

It’s me. Well, it’s you at 22. I have learned so much about you in these six years. Right now, you may not feel comfortable about the person you are. I am still getting to know you and appreciating even more the person you are at 16. I realize that self-discovery is a life long journey. Not knowing the future can be scary and stressful, yet you have no idea of this at your tender naïve age. If you knew then what I know now, life would still be unpredictable. When you are reading this you have no clue of how amazing this world is. All you think you know in your inexperienced 16 year-old mind is a second in time compared to what you realize this life is about. Life is about the people and the relationships you develop. You will struggle with keeping in touch with friends. You tend to be out of sight, out of mind. Remember the wonderful feeling of a friend calling you on an ordinary day just to check in and say they are thinking of you. As I write this, I am reminded of a list of people to call.

You have a blissful absentmindedness about negativity in this world. You don’t like drama and therefore your life is simple and enjoyable. The stress comes in your head and sometimes you can be your own worst enemy. You have so many wonderful qualities that you haven’t learned to be thankful for yet. Your smile is inviting. You love to laugh and have mom’s sarcasm. It can be jaw dropping how similar you two become. She is your best friend. You are sweet. You are interested in what people have to say and think that every word is important. You would like to believe the words that people say are honest. However, you sometimes doubt compliments and think people are feeding you a spoonful of horseshit. Accept them as truths; you deserve these kind words. Give them back. I challenge you to be the first to give someone the gift of a compliment. You love for others to be happy and feel beautiful because you want that for yourself.

You are beautiful. Don’t sell yourself short on your beauty; embrace it with humility. Part of your appeal and what attracts other people to you is that you are comfortable in your skin. This wasn’t the case at 16. You always compared yourself to other girls. You convinced yourself that they were more gorgeous. You were self-conscious about your stomach and the imaginary rolls that appeared over your jeans when you sat. You didn’t have them then, but you have them now. And you feel strangely comfortable in your non-perfect body.

Warning, don’t let yourself go and think that eating while watching tv all day will somehow keep your muscles toned. I tried it and this is not the case. On a side note, stop watching television. There is too much life to be lived by you. You waste the chance as you sit on your lazy ars. Like everything in life you have to work at it. You have an adventurous spirit that you are beginning to tap into. You love the outdoors, but you rarely took the opportunities to do fun, out of the ordinary things. You have to make the plans, include friends and introduce them to the excitement of life.

So a few lessons you will learn...
1. People come into your life for a reason. Enjoy their presence and learn from their absence.
2. Life is sweeter than you can ever imagine. God has a greater plan for you and most we haven't lived yet.
3. Your family is the back bone to who you are. Everyone of us will have our moments of hard times, and we will rally next to each other and love one another more.
4. You will truly believe that God loves you and it is the most rewarding Love. Accepting that you deserve love, allows you to drop the weight of expectations off your shoulders.


Joey, thanks for the idea. Here are some memorable quotes from the beautiful women who wrote letters to their 16 year-old selves...

JOEY: "But what's always true in life is that all the grace and the wisdom we need to get through something, we don't have until it's over. And the reason we don't have it until afterward is because it's the process itself that grows us up into it."

ALISHA: "Don't let your life and your actions ever be in reaction to something else. Don't be afraid of being "normal" because you crave the attention of being exceptional. I'm not saying don't be exceptional, I'm saying don't crave needing to be recognized for it."

BRIDGET: "Stop stressing about the future because no matter what you envision as your future it will not turn out how you imagined, but more than you could ever ask for."

18 year-old BLOGGER: "When the time comes to meet the man of your dreams, it will happen in the most random place. You have way more to give than you realize. But you can’t meet him until you love yourself. Take your time doing this."