Lessons from my 18-year-old younger self

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟴?

𝖨 𝗋𝖾𝖼𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗅𝗒 𝖼𝖺𝗆𝖾 𝖺𝖼𝗋𝗈𝗌𝗌 𝖺𝗇 𝗈𝗅𝖽 𝗆𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝖨 𝗌𝖾𝗇𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝗒 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝖻𝗂𝗍 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝖺𝗍 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖨 𝗐𝗋𝗈𝗍𝖾 𝖺𝗍 𝟣𝟪 𝗒𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗌 𝗈𝗅𝖽.

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝖺𝗋𝗍𝗂𝖼𝗎𝗅𝖺𝗍𝖾, 𝗆𝖺𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗄𝗂𝗇𝖽 𝖨 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝗆𝗒 𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗂𝖼𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽𝗌.

This is what I wrote:

“1) There is someone out there who loves you and cares for you 2) You will get over your homesick-phase. Your newfound freedom, the friendships, and food will become your comfort 3) Thanks to distance, we are able to know how much you love your family and friends. Ever heard of long-distance relationships? I know you miss your family and friends, but we all miss you too. :) I’m glad we’re going through this together. I’m reminding myself as well of how lucky I am to have such an amazing friend like you. College will be one of the best years of your life. The people you meet could potentially be your bridesmaids at your wedding *according to my Resident Advisor. You could always call me, email me, or even snail mail me. Love ya, Alisa ”

— Alisa at 18 years old

𝖨𝗍 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗆𝗌 𝖨'𝗆 𝖺 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵.

𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘴.

𝖨 𝗎𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖽 𝗈𝗇 𝗆𝗒𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵-𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦). 𝖨 𝗎𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗋𝗒 𝖺 𝗅𝗈𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝗋𝗂𝖾𝖽 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗒 𝖽𝗂𝖿𝖿𝗂𝖼𝗎𝗅𝗍 𝖾𝗆𝗈𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌 (𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋𝗌) 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗆𝖾.

𝗡𝗼𝘄, 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲, 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿, 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱.

𝖫𝗂𝖿𝖾 𝖿𝖾𝖾𝗅𝗌 𝖺 𝗅𝗈𝗍 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝗇𝗈𝗐.

𝖲𝗂𝗆𝗂𝗅𝖺𝗋 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖾, 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗅𝗌𝗈 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

𝖳𝗈 𝗀𝗂𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽.

𝖳𝗈 𝗉𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗉𝗈𝗇𝖽.

𝖳𝗈 𝖻𝖾𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿.

𝖳𝗈 𝗅𝖾𝗍 𝗀𝗈.

💭 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳?

#𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾𝖼𝗈𝖺𝖼𝗁 #𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖽𝖿𝗎𝗅𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗌 #𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗋𝗌𝖾𝗅𝖿