Letter to my past self

Written for 18 year old me.

Dear Patricia Marie,

Hello. You don't know me yet, but I know you very well. I have never been good at writing letters, but I feel like you need to know some things, so here goes.

YOU ARE AN AMAZING HUMAN.

You have always been confident in who you are, true to your beliefs, smart, and strong. Somewhere along the way, you lose that, and I wish you hadn't, because I fight every day to get it back.

You are about to go on a terrifying adventure, but you are going to be great at it. You will make some mistakes along the way, but you learn from them... eventually.

Some advice for you, that you won't listen to: don't let people push you around. Stand your ground and trust your gut. Don't sneak around and lie; it becomes your way of life and you don't want to be that person, trust me. Don't stay in relationships that break you. Work harder to keep the good ones, and not so hard to keep the bad.

You are going to be like your mother sometimes. Get over it. In your desire to be complete opposites, you actually hurt yourself, and let other people hurt you, and that isn't okay. NO ONE has the right to hurt you.

Do not drop out of college. It is a huge regret, and I understand why you do it, but giving up makes life so much harder later on.

Be unequivocally you. People will try to change you, and extinguish the inferno inside of you... tell them to shove it. You are awesome, and you make some great friends because of it. Don't let them go because of someone else. Again, trust your gut.

Don't listen to people who tell you that you can't do something. You can do ANYTHING.

I don't want to ruin the surprises coming in the future, but know, you are blessed, and loved, and perfect exactly how you are. Don't listen to people that say you aren't; they are liars and in reality, they are the ones that are disliked and they want to drag you down.

Most of all, I love you. I will always love you, and when I think of who you are, I want to be more like you.

Have fun in your life.

Love always,
Yourself