Dear Aoife,

I am writing this letter to you, aged 23, preparing to graduate from college with a Bachelor of Business and ready to explore the world.

While I know you struggled in your teenage years with extreme anxiety and depression, I am so proud to be able to tell you that you have taken massive steps to improve your mental health situation since then. You’ve even been able to graduate from college, which I know you never thought you’d be able to do, and as a surplus of fixing your mental health, you are now confident enough to call the local chipper on your own- no need to get Mam to do it anymore! Although, we’re still working on making doctors’ appointments… Sorry!

In the years after leaving secondary school, you will come to realise your self-worth. While this comes at a cost of losing some friends along the way, I’m here to assure you that this was meant to happen. Because of those losses, you will come to realise who is really there for you, and who will make an effort to be with you even when times are hard.

As I write this letter, I am preparing to enter the world on my own, and this includes plans to move to a different country by myself in the near future. I know to you reading this, what I’m planning to do is unimaginable, but honestly, I’ve learned over the years that it’s okay to do things by yourself, and walk down different paths compared to the people you are close to!

When I look back at you, my younger self, I feel extremely sad to know how miserable you feel. But know this, in the future you will achieve things you never even could have imagined; you will feel happier, ready to take on the world and you will no longer let others step on you for the sake of being a people pleaser. For that, I am so so proud of you and I wish you the best of luck!

With endless love,

Aoife

 

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