Dear 16 years old me

This post is a response to the #talking16 contest by @cadawg.

The challang is to write a post talking to your 16 years old self- what would you say and why? I really liked the idea and thought I'd give it a try:).

Dear 16 years old me,

It's been a while since we last spoke, 12 years to be exact. It's long enough that I don't entirely remember what you looked like, what you were thinking about, what you felt. I almost feel like I am writing to a stranger, but you're not a stranger, are you? 

I have so many things to tell you, but the most important one- love yourself, you are wonderful. Yeah, some people look down at you, but these people don't matter, there are others who see how brilliant you are. You will spend years wasting energy on people who don't deserve it, but you will learn to let go of it in the end. 

Second- you think you've just learned happiness and confidence, but you have a looooong way to go. There will be ups and downs, there will be times when you don't believe you will ever be truly happy, but each one of these times is just another milestone on the way to finding another level of happiness you didn't know existed. 

Third- do what you want. Not what would make you seem cool or would provide you a “sure” future. You will learn that nothing is sure in life, and it's better to spend as many moments as possible doing things you enjoy. 

Forth- you are allowed to be selfish. Stop being afraid of upsetting other people, because you are just hurting yourself trying to do right by them (I'll let you in on a little spoiler- you'll still be struggling with it in 12 years).

Like I said, there are many more things to say, many things you will learn in the next 12 years, but there is no point detailing them all. Because by 28 you will also learn that you never stop learning and changing, and I want to let you do all this learning on your own. 

Don't forget to be happy, future Ruth.