To Anjelica from ten years ago,

There’s so much I wish I could tell my younger self, lessons learned the hard way, warnings of bad days to come but most importantly, I wish I could let you know everything turns out ok and you will be alright.

In 2012 people kept saying the world would end that year, I know you didn’t show it at the time but you were scared it was true. Well good news, the world didn’t end in 2012 but trust me there were times in 2020 that we thought it would end soon.

So much has happened in the past 10 years that I don’t even know where to begin. We grew out of our shyness and somehow became a lot more extroverted, though we still have days where we just want to fade into the walls.

There will be a lot of ups and downs coming your way soon, but not to worry because while life won’t always be picture perfect, our experiences, good or bad, are what shape us.

At some stage in the coming years, you will dye your hair blonde and you won’t tell anyone this for a few years but it was an awful mistake, you’ll also drop your phone about twice a year so seriously listen to your parents and buy a screen protector!

Looking back on the past 10 years, some of the most pivotal moments are ones you won’t realise until years to come, so I encourage you to put yourself out there, live your life, trust your gut instinct and stop second-guessing yourself constantly.

You won’t realise it at first, but you will meet people who become a huge part of your life later on that you will barely talk to at first, so remember to be kind to everyone even if it’s just a passing smile on the street or a corridor.

On a more serious note, on a random Thursday in March 2020 your entire world and your life will completely change forever. This will be incredibly difficult so remember that it’s ok to talk about how you’re feeling and open up to others, and please don’t watch too much news coverage.

The last piece of advice I wish I had known earlier was to live my own life, turn off the phone every once in a while, and ditch the attitude of Instagram-or-it-didn’t-happen. Enjoy your youth, thing’s change quickly and exams will creep up on you before you even know it, so make time for yourself and the things you enjoy.

Love, A x

 

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