Letter to My Younger Self

“Have you ever thought about accepting yourself as you are right here and now? That you are good enough — perfect in fact — just as you are?”

― Hillary Allen, Out and Back: A Runner’s Story of Survival Against All Odds

My dear,

I take my pen, and words start flowing on the paper. There is just love. And I would like to share with you my biggest lesson of all. My biggest transition has been motherhood.

From my young self to adulthood, I finally got to understand that honoring ourselves as women is probably one of the most amazing gifts we have on this Earth. If we honor ourselves, then we can also spread our love and understanding to our family, kids, partners, and so on.

Please know that you are enough. There’s no need to struggle and work so hard for love and appreciation.

You are valuable just because you are.

You are a good mother.

Not perfect, not the best mother, but a good enough mother. Your children are and will be so cool, and you’ll be very happy with them by your side. And you will have peace in your heart, that you’ve done a good job with them.

You are beautiful.

Maybe you don’t see it now, even though you’re living your best years! But, trust me, one day you’ll be able to look in the mirror, and every time you meet your face, you’ll smile at it with admiration and love.

And you’ll say to yourself, “You are very beautiful!” with honesty and joy. You will see and be so happy with your face and your body, and you won’t want to change anything about yourself.

You are a better and gentler person than you think.

One day, your gentleness and kindness will be reflected in you so often that you will finally see them in you. And your inner child will thank you too.

You are not selfish.

I wish you were! If you had been, we would have arrived earlier at healthy self-love together.

They lied to you when they told you that you shouldn’t be selfish.

Today, you are allowed to start choosing yourself, for your own sake. Don’t confuse this with being unkind to others in any way!

You are normal…

…and there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Everything you don’t like about yourself and will change in the coming years (but also what you won’t want or be able to change) are normal adaptations to the many abnormal situations you have been through.

***

It’s all normal,

everything you feel,

all your defenses,

there’s nothing wrong with you.

You have coped excellently so far,

you are a survivor.

And one day, you will not only survive,

but you will also begin to live fully.

***

My heart is filled with gratitude for the lessons I’ve learned and the journey I’ve been on. There is no better transition than this path toward a better understanding of the self.

I hope you see in yourself that life has so much to offer if we just take our time to reflect and experience it.

With love,

Me

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***I originally published this story on Medium.***

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