Dear Past Me

In school on Friday we discussed the way we are going to bring up our children, if we are lucky enough to have them. My teacher raised the question, asking whether we would raise our kids the same way our parents raised us. She proposed that most of us would probably say yes, but would there be things that we would change?

When I came home on Friday, I considered this question fully. In truth, will I raise my children differently? Yes. For me, this is almost no question at all. I knew that sitting in my classroom, I know it on the way home, and I still know it now.

But thinking about my future, and the lessons I would impart on any future children I might chose to have, made me think about all the things I wish I would've told myself at the beginning of high school, considering where I am now.

So instead of writing a note to my future children, I wrote a note to my past self, and I would like to share it on here, in the hope that it might give some advice.

"Laugh more. Cry more. Take in the beauty of this world. Don’t be afraid to think. Don’t be afraid to speak and don’t be afraid to feel. 

There are going to be times when you are lost, times when you’re angry, afraid and broken. You are going to be confused, you are going to ask why… ALOT. And sometimes, you aren’t going to get the answers that you require. And then you're gonna be frustrated. There will be days when you wish you weren’t born. But from those days it’ll be as if you were born anew, as you will rise up from the ashes, greater and stronger than you were before.

It is going to be really hard but it also going to be so worth it. So say thank you more. You are going to face challenges and sometimes you will fail but you will also succeed. You are going to want to give up, but you will keep going because you are made of stronger stuff.

You are going to say things you don’t mean, and sometimes you will upset people, but you will apologize because no one is ever too big or too great to say sorry when they are wrong.

You are going to stand up for what you believe in because there is nothing on this earth that is more important to you than fighting for the ones that you love.

Grab opportunities with both hands, and see every day as a different experience. Don’t take all that you have for granted, because G-d can give as quickly as He can take away. 

Learn more. Study hard. Take life seriously, but not too seriously. 

Be patient, be kind and most importantly be accepting. Don’t judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.

Some days, your biggest achievement will be getting out of bed in the morning, but some days you achievements will be as big as touching the sky.

Don’t forget to spend a few moments every day saying thank you for everything you do have.

You are going to learn that the greatest tool you have, is your mind. With your mind you can achieve anything. You will see that it doesn’t matter what you have or what you don’t have, it is about creating opportunities with your mind.

But most importantly, be brave, be strong and be kind." 

-LF, LR and MG xxx