Dear 16 year old me - please read

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At 16 you feel like your're an adult. You've hit the first milestone birthday, your're driving a car (with supervision). You have likely found your "group" of friends in your classes - life is good.

The moment you started high school people flooded you with the warnings on how fast these next four years are going to fly. To hang on to everything because no matter how hard your hardest day in high school is, it will never compare to some of the days your're about to experience. You just smiled at everyone who tried to warn you and nodded like you were actually listening, but behind closed doors you were just wishing for those years to fly by.

Your're a sophomore in high school and sometimes present day me wishes I could go back and shake you. You sleep walk through school , skip days and party your weekends away with people who actually don't care about you. Don't get me wrong some of your best memories will come from those weekends. The kind that hurt your stomach from laughing so hard while reliving them with your best friend. You tend to forget how to balance your time, your priorities aren't straight. Honestly it's probably because you don't really know what your priorities are. Don't worry you will learn.

These years will slip through your fingers, and at the moment on your prom day in senior year your're going to realize this. At that point it is too late to catch it, but that is okay. It was a key learning lesson we learned in high school; it helped us learn the importance of of living in the moment and loving every second without being too caught up in our future.

As I look back at those years as learning experiences, I thank you for being so strong for us because those years shaped us into who we are (and aren't) today. You feel like time is frozen. The way you talk about your future with your best friend is like you two are going to be teens forever and your 20s are so far off in the future it seems untouchable. Unfortunately, reality slapped us in the face with the big 2-0 and it is kind of shocking because, between you and me, I still feel like a sixteen year old sometimes.

You are so innocent. Looking back at some of the things you went through hurts me because you just didn't know or understand. But at the same time, I love that about you. Some people roll their eyes at that type of innocence and invincibility we all felt at your age, but I look back and wish you could have felt it a little longer. Sometimes I even wish I could go back completely. The hopeful view you have for life is so beautiful because it is based off of pure curiosity, untouched by how cruel the world and people in it could be.

I can still see your wide eyes, so thirsty for knowledge and adventure. This is the year you really start developing your writing and ability to fearlessly speak your mind, a trait that I am so thankful for today. You've never been scared to share your opinion, whether or not you

knew people would agree with you. Four years later and that fearlessness has given us more opportunities than you could ever imagine.

I want you to know that the anxiety you feel towards life is normal, but the way you deal with it is not healthy. It’s easy to feel like you’re the only person in the world who is sad or scared when you bottle up your emotions, but trust me when I say the friends and family you have in your life right now would do anything for you and some of them might be feeling the same way. They would drop what they were doing in a heartbeat to listen and cry with you, but you have to tear down the wall you build around yourself and let them in. It’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s scary, that’s for sure, but I promise it will help with all the emotions you’ve been building up for awhile.

The last thing I want to tell you is to stop rushing these last three years you have at home. I can tell you that college is amazing, but it will come on it’s own. Spend the time you have with your best friend because even though you think you two will be like sisters forever, life tends to get in the way. Thank the teachers who actually cared about you and did more than their job asked for, because they will have a bigger influence on your life than you realize at the time.

Give your dad the biggest hug - I know you're mad but there will be the biggest change you never wanted to happen. And hug your family, because in two years you’re going to move out and have to grow up and support yourself. You are about to question everything, including your purpose. Your friends will change, your jobs will change. You are going to date a lot and be heart broken a ton, don't ever change how delicate you are.

Know that you are loved and the future you’re working towards right now is brighter than you can imagine. I can’t wait for you to sit back in six years as a 22-year-old and smile so big because you know how far we’ve come in so little time.

Much love and luck to you for these next few years,

Your 22-Year-Old Self

P.S. Please, for the love of God, stop posting Facebook statuses ― trust me, saving you from embarrassment in a few years.