A Letter To My Younger Self

Dear fourteen-year-old girl,

With big dreams and stars in her eyes,

Who believes you have your whole life mapped out.

I’m afraid I have some bad news for you…

The world is not as straightforward as you think.

It will break your heart a thousand times over.

You will lose people, you will be disillusioned,

You will be forced to drop those rose-colored glasses

And you will die countless small deaths

And mourn each piece of you that is lost.

And I will disappoint you in so many ways.

But like the vampires in the stories you love so much

You will return from each small death

As something stronger and more powerful

Then you were before.

You will end up in unexpected places

With unexpected people

And you will be the better for it.

This is what growing up is like,

And so I am not sorry for disappointing you.

Change is painful, but it’s necessary

And I promise you, it will be worth it.

With all my love,

You:

A twenty-eight-year-old woman