One of the added bonuses of decluttering
is finding long lost treasures,
like this journal I kept when I was 14.
In it, I found a letter I wrote
to my future self,
apparently assuming I’d need
a good pep talk at some point.
Fourteen was not my best year.
As I recall,
I didn’t like much of anything
other than bad boys, girlfriends
and my dreams of breaking free
from the chains of adolescence.
So, I was a bit dumbfounded
to discover that the young me
I’d written off as a misbehaving brat
actually had the foresight and wisdom
to send her future self
a message about the importance
of self-care, self-confidence
and self-love.
It’s as if she already knew
who I would become one day
and the words I’d need to hear
from the person who knows me best.
“Maybe you’ve made some mistakes,”
she wrote.
“Learn from them.
Look at the big picture
and know that someday you’ll laugh.
You are wonderful…
you are full of light.
Believe in yourself.”
