Today I am joining Emily in her link up party. She is the author of the amazing book I am currently reading called Grace for the Good Girl. In some ways, I feel she wrote this book entirely for me. Either that, or we are long-lost twin sisters and she just gets me.
She now has a new book out called Graceful, which from what I understand is similar to the one I am reading, only directed to teenager girls. How awesome is that? So lots of people are linking up letters to themselves when they were 16 to celebrate this awesomeness. Join me, will you?
If you read this letter hoping for a layout of how your life will turn out in the next fifteen years, you might as well stop reading right now. I have three things to dispense as wisdom, and the first is to live in the moment, so no names of future husbands or hints as to career choices will come your way.
You've always been good in living vicariously from the past or expectantly on the future. Stop this right now. Enjoy high school. Enjoy your responsibilities (or lack thereof). Enjoy your friendships. You will loose friends to untimely death and some others to lack of contact.
Your anxiety about college is useless, as you will go to a different country than you expect, a city you never heard of. It will scare you silly. And you will love every minute of it. So much, that a piece of you will always be there. Stop planning your wedding and picking names for your children. None of those will happen when, where and how you think they will. Live in the now, for you will soon be longing for these brief moments of teenage carefree happiness.
Advice number two is cut yourself some slack. Although you feel the world is pressuring you, that pressure comes from none other than yourself. Your mother loves you. You father supports you. Your friends understand you. God accepts you. No matter what you do or don't. These high-expectations just make you feel you can't control what you actually cannot.
Making mistakes is a natural part of life, and we can't always wish to undo and un-say what is left behind. Had you avoided the mistakes you make, you wouldn't be you. Therefore, allowing yourself to relax and lightening up on the load you place on your own shoulders is just common sense.
Advice number three: be kinder. You think you have the right to be mad, the right to complain, the right to not help. You actually do have the right to do whatever you want. However, you will always regret it. Seeing people be unkind to each other will make you witness family feuds, friendships shatter and marriages come to an end. And even though you see all that around you, it will still feel as your God-given right to act that way. You will think that that's how people treat each other. It's not. That is a horrible trick your ego plays with you, and you can be the first to break free from that lie. Learn from the examples set before you, so you can show love in all you do.
Understand that God is in control and everything that happens to you is allowed by Him. Whether you like it or not, sooner or later you will realise that He was working for your own good.
With lots of love,
Yourself
