A personal letter to my younger self



Dear Past Me

As a kid you are going to effortlessly possess some special qualities that you should hold on to for the rest of your life. You will be creative, open minded and ambitious to conquer every little challenge that the world throws at you. With bundles of imagination and creativity, every single day will seem like a new little adventure to explore, gain a better understanding of the world and better yourself in every way possible, all things that will give you a huge advantage in later life. You will feel the urge to spend a lot of your childhood longing to be an adult, drive a car, go to bed far past your bedtime and want adult responsibilities, but don't let this stop you from making the most of those younger, stress free years where the biggest challenge is building a blanket fort which doesn't collapse on your head. You will have more freedom and possibility now than you'll ever have for the rest of your life, cherish it because it may just define the person that you grow up to be.

You have this extraordinary power to control your own future, do not throw it away on a pathway that you feel peer pressured into taking. Go with your heart, follow through with your passions and always put your own happiness and the happiness of the people that mean the most to you first. Experiences and life skills mean so much more than any material possessions that you will ever have. Yes, you will sometimes get jealous at all of the nice toys, money, cars and clothes that all of your friends are constantly being given by their parents while you have to endlessly slave away to earn money and work hard to save up and buy them for yourself, but you are much better off for it. You will learn a certain respect for the significance of life better than the majority of others, you will appreciate and value the little things so much more than any of them and constantly receive that amazing feeling of achievement when you finally reach your goals. Always remember that money does not equal happiness, it's how you choose to live your life, the acts of kindness and the people that you surround yourself with that will define you as a person.

As a teenager, you are going to start delving into the scary and foreign world of relationships, and lets be honest it's scary, you are going to have absolutely no idea how to overcome this  hurdle to begin with, which is okay because everyone is in the exact same position as you. Rule number one is that girls are definitely not the most important thing in the world. Sometimes you will get your heart broken from relationships, but you should never let anybody else make you doubt your self worth as a person. A failed relationship does not mean that you are worthless, or that there is anything wrong with you, because you are perfect just the way you are, you just don't realise it yet, its something that I am still coming to terms with but something that is undoubtedly true. There are so many people in life that are going to promise you this feeling of 'love', some will mean it and some of them won't, you are going to fall for people that are nothing but poison for your confidence and happiness, they will whisper sweet nothings in your ear and you will fall for them, inevitably leading to heartbreak. Do not change who you are because one day you will eventually fall for that one special somebody who you can be yourself around, who will love and accept every little bit of you for who you are. You will find someone who helps you to cherish every little moment in life and will continue to support you as you grow, moulding yourself into the person that you were born to be, and that is definitely worth waiting for. But until then, you're a strong, independent guy who has more than enough personality to to hold your own.

You are going to grow up relentlessly trying to see and bring out the best in other people, treating everyone with kindness, despite how lost or awful they may seem which is a trait that you will never grow out of, but it is so important that you do not allow anyone to take advantage of that. You are going to encounter bullies, who will try their best to make your life as miserable as possible, physically and mentally abusing you to raise their own self esteem. People that decide to pick on you for your 'different' sense of style, poor acne prone skin at high school, skinny figure, gift of intelligence and self motivation to propel yourself to the top of the class in regards to grades and all because they are jealous of the amazing human being that you are and will become, while trying to mask their own flaws. You will grow to do amazing things with your life that you never dreamed were possible, you will pass all of your GCSE's with A*'s and A's while the bullies fail their's, you will continue to exceed all expectations through college and get yourself a place at your first choice university while the bullies the majority of the bullies now have dead end jobs at McDonald's. Your skin will completely clear up, you eat healthily and work out now, and your self confidence will flourish as you learn to embrace and love yourself for who you are and you grow as an individual with so many ambitions expectations for life, which I am pretty sure you will have the passion and desire to achieve.

You will have times where you feel worthless and alone, like your lack of confidence and social skills will always be the reason that you spend so much time on your own and can't keep a relationship going for more than a few weeks, like you can't fully express your thoughts and feelings or live life to the best of your ability in fear of being bullied and standing out from the crowd, like you're ready to give up on life all together. Despite this, hang in there, never give up. Things always have to get worse before they get better, but the good will tremendously outweigh the bad. There will no doubt be instances where you feel ugly, insignificant, like you don't fit in or belong, but I promise you that you are none of these things, you just haven't  quite discovered your place in this world yet. 

Smile more, laugh more, perform more acts of random kindness, flood the world with your positivity and it will become a better place because of it. Walk down the street with your shoulders back and head held high, take advantage of the exciting opportunities that are gifted to you rather than sitting in your room alone, thinking that you had no place in this vast world. Waste less of your life worrying about what other people think of you and don't be afraid to do things that make you happy because that is the main goal in life at the end of the day, to find happiness. 

My final advice to you is to waste less energy on negativity and trying to fit in with everyone else in life, you were born to be something special and unique, invest more time in happiness while finding and bettering yourself as a person and most importantly believe in yourself.

You really will become your own hero.

James


12 comments

Sofie said...

This is by far my favourite of your posts, James! So so good. I love how your main point is just staying positive, because growing up, that can really be quite a task. You face so many strange things in those years and so many different people, who are still all the same somehow. I remember those years as it being me and them too. I was never a part of "the others". I hated it back then, but now I'm grateful. Thank God I was different. My motto is life has become "only dead fish follow the stream". We all have our own opinions, likes and dislikes and that's what makes the world interesting, really.


Amazing post, I absolutely loved reading it!


Sofie xx
itsjustsofie.com

Rebecca and Danielle Tiffany said...

I wish I could write a letter to my younger self that my younger self could really read, I really think it would help me! This was really nicely written, well done. It's brilliant you're now at a point in your life where you can say all these things! Enjoyed reading this post a lot.
Rebecca | The Two Twenty Somethings
Xx

Jessica Marie said...

I've wanted to do this for ages! It's such a lovely idea. It shows how much you've learned and how much you have to be proud of! Good on ya!

Jessica Marie | JESMGIA

Natasha said...

I absolutely loved reading this post, James and that final line about becoming your own hero is just a perfect way to end it. Great post! - Tasha

James Bickle said...

thank you for reading Tasha, I'm really glad that you enjoyed it! :-)

James Bickle said...

You should totally do it, it's really motivating to look back on when you need a little inspiration for life!

James Bickle said...

I thought the same thing until somebody mentioned that everything that you have done in the past has shaped you into the amazing person that you are today! Thank you for reading! :-)

James Bickle said...

Thank you Sofie, I always try and put a positive spin on everything, hopefully this can motivate a few other people into making the most out of life and avoiding some of the mistakes that I ended up making! I really like your way of thinking, original is definitely the way to go, I would be happy as long as I am a positive inspiration to at least a few people :) thank you so much for reading! x

Lauren said...

I love these types of posts! I think they can be beneficial to the writer as you get to look back and see how far you've come but you might also inadvertently help someone else who is struggling through a time in their life :) I did one of these a couple of months ago and it made me realise that I have done so much more in my life so far than I thought I had.

Lauren :) x

Natasha said...

No problem! I'm trying to make sure I visit your blog regularly now - sometimes life gets in the way though! :P

Victoria Nightingale said...

Aww I really love it when people write letters to their younger selves - and have always wanted to do the same. I think it's really good to reflect back on your life to help yourself in the future - and I love the positive spin on this. Great post James :)


vvnightingale.com

sandra said...

I've been 17 since I was forced out of the family, and the only time I saw it was in my proposals Wikipedia writing services before falling asleep in the back seat of this car, so thank you! It was beneficial.

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