A letter from December 18th, 2020

Dear FutureMe, Don't Worry. All things happen if they are meant to. Stop comparing the past to the present. You left it behind for a reason, so go forward confidently into the future you are developing right now. Keep smiling... those small worries and concerns will be forgotten in a year's time. Be thankful for those small blessings that grace your life each day. Even when it seems things are falling apart, it takes the destruction of the old to build up the new. Tell the people in your life how much you love them. It does not matter how many people are in your life, instead love the ones you have. Be grateful they were placed in your life and seek out the knowledge and truth you are supposed to learn from them... even if it's only to learn to not be like them. Invest in moments and memories, not things. It's not wrong to have a nice house, a nice car, or nice clothes as long as it is the memories made in that house and trips taken in that car and where you went with those you love that you hold most dear. Above all, strive to be yourself. Even if it is cliche people will like you if you are just yourself. Remove the mask that you feel you need to hide behind to be liked. It's their loss, not yours. Find out who you are and BE that person! Never stand on someone else's ground to be who they are. Instead, build your own hill to stand on and look around at the roots you have sown to be who you are. Love yourself NOW. Not for who you should be in ten years or 10 pounds lighter. Not for the better job or the better place you'll be someday. Love you for who you are now, in each and every moment. Live with absolutely no regrets because you only live once. Living scared of what others think or trying to be perfect in everyone's eyes is not living. Take risks and have fun be the person you looked up to on the streets or the people you thought were so cool because of the risks they took. If you haven't by now and I hope you have, go get a tattoo. Remind yourself of who you always wanted to be. I don't know why but I feel like I'm in a slump right now in the future and I need to get out of it. The choice is yours. -Emily (14)