Letter To Me by Amy Andrews

Inspired by the lovely Louisa's letter to her 16 year old self last Friday, all the LoveCats, interspersed with other posts, will be bringing you their letters over the next few months. And today its my turn.
So here goes....

Dear Me,

Firstly, let me tell you, that you’re going to have a fabulous life filled with amazing opportunities and incredible experiences.

I know at the moment, as you head into your last year of high school, that you’re hedging your bets career-wise. You want to be a nurse but you also want to have a Plan B in case it’s not what you imagined.  Forget Plan B. You’re going to love being a nurse. You’re going to love it from the second you first put on your uniform. You love working with patients, being with patients. Chatting with them, laughing with them and crying with them. Being their advocate and their confidante. You love it so much you make an active decision to not climb up the hierarchy because you never want to lose your connection to patients.

You will never regret that decision.

One day very soon you’re going to open your front door and a guy will be standing there that you know instantly you’re going to marry. Part of me wants to tell you not to open that door. To leave that door for a few more years. You are a young woman in your prime and you have no idea what power you hold in your hands. You should date a little more, flirt a little more, kiss a little more. You should revel in that power a lot more. But you won’t. Because we don’t get to choose the time fate comes knocking and you’re going to be so head-over-heels in love you won’t care about any of the rest.

And that guy is a keeper.

You will make some wonderful friends over the years and you will commit everything to those friendships. Sadly, not all of them will last and that will throw you when it happens. It will be bewildering and it will make you wary of how much of yourself you give in future. But please know that some people come into our lives for a reason and then move on and that’s okay. Your true friends will always be there for you. They will pick you up and commiserate with you when you fall and, more importantly, they will lift you on their shoulders and celebrate with you when you succeed. People say that it’s the friends who stay when the chips are down that count and that’s so very important but it will surprise you to learn that some of those people won’t be as supportive when you find success after many years of hard slog to achieve your dream.

Misery loves company but true friends are there for you come what may.   

Lastly, I want to say – I want you to believe – YOU. ARE. NOT. FAT.  Trust me on this, you’re going to spend an extraordinary amount of time never measuring up in the mirror and please, for the love of God, I beg you, don’t do that. Please see what everyone else sees. The constant critical eye is exhausting and you’ll spend so much time finding fault with your body and being on diets that you’ll never wield that power I mentioned earlier - you’ll never know you had it until it's too late. Please, give yourself a break from that internal negative voice and be kind to yourself.  

You look good, girlfriend! Just enjoy it.

love Me xxx

PS – no matter how much Mum drives you nuts from time to time, treasure every moment with her. You will lose her too soon and nothing will ever be the same again.

Thought I'd share this song with you from Brad Paisley called Letter To Me which always, without fail, makes me cry.

Did you know what you wanted to be at 16?