At the beginning of my teenage years, it was easy to believe that the slightest inconvenience could bring my whole world to a crashing halt. If I were to travel back in time and offer my past self a few pieces of advice, I think it would have added a couple years back to my life. But then again, what’s life without a couple of curveballs?
There is a popular saying that I have really taken to heart in recent years: “You grow through what you go through.” I really wish my past self knew that my success now is simply the outcome of my struggles then; this would really help everything I went through seem more worth it.
Another thing that comforts me now is knowing that everything happens for a reason. As a child, I would beat myself up every time something did not go the way I intended it. Had I known then that not making the lead role in the play or getting dumped by my middle school boyfriend would actually, in some beautiful way, get me to where I am today, then I would never have wasted so much time shedding so many tears.
Ever since I knew the definition of stress, it has been a huge part of my personality. I put all of my time, passion, and ambition into everything I partake in, so naturally stress comes as a side effect. Some advice I would offer my younger self would be not to stress the little things. Everything will end up how it is supposed to. I still believe this and hope this sentiment carries on with me for the rest of my life.
Even as I write this, attempting to advise myself as a child, I recognize that who I am now should take into account what I am advising. It is true that we can never go back in time—we can only move forward. “If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. Just let it be.”