Writing a Letter to My 10 Year Old Self

Dear Nicole,

I love you. I know these words are thrown around quite a bit as of late, and that you are steeped in a world of love from your family and friends and even Ashley (she's such a great dog), but not everyone is always going to be there to keep telling you how much they love you. So I'm writing to tell you I love you, always. Who am I? I'm you, but from a different time. OK, I think you can handle this - I'm you from the future!

Here's the deal, in the next couple of years the world your world is going to get pretty harsh. I'm not going to tell you how, when or why (spoilers!), but I will tell you this: IT IS ALL GOING TO BE OK. You'll get through it all. But you have to remember this: I love you, you are special and you can't let go of your joy. I only wish we could sit and talk right now because I believe I could learn so much more from you than vice versa, but here are some things I want you to keep in mind:

• being strong doesn't mean being insensitive. You have a right to your feelings; express them.
• keep writing to me. I love the diaries, journals and other creations I find all of the time!
• kids are mean, you are not the problem. I don't even think they realize how cruel they can be.
• keep dreaming, keep reading, keep your faith and keep smiling.
• perms smell bad. They also require that you style your hair every morning. Keep this in mind - are you ready for that kind of commitment?
• boys are just people too. The ones you hang around happen to speak English - go ahead and talk to them.
• I don't need to tell you this, but that family of yours ROCKS - keep them close, tell them you love them, mean it, cherish it and protect whoever needs protecting whenever they need protecting.
• keep on having yard sales and saving your money and rolling up your coins - they always come in handy!
• this one is really, really important and took me a really long time to learn, so I am going to plant the seed a little bit early: Letting go of things is not the same as letting go of people. You can get rid of stuff without harming or losing the memory of the person who got it for you, or a time you shared with them. Remember this. Keep precious what matters: time spent with those you love, not things.

Those tips were for you, here are two things that can help us in the future:

• RECIPES!!!! GET THEM ALL - from Grandma, from Mommy, from Aunt Suzie, from anyone you can think of - just start writing them down, gathering them together. If you can do this you will be a hero to many!
• HOUSE KEEPING - start spying on Mom and Dad whenever they are doing house stuff. Mommy's right, that is your house too - why not learn about it? I'm just saying. It might be cool to know. It might be useful... someday.

So that's it. I mean, of course, do well in school, go to church, and have fun, but that's it! I'm not telling you about any future stuff - no lotto numbers, no cool new inventions, nothing like that - those are spoilers and the last thing I want to do is take away the great adventure of discovery that the years in front of you are going be!! Enjoy the ride!

All My Love Always,
Old Nicole :)




This post was written in response to What if #13: What if you could talk/write a letter to your ten year old self? Link up, share your response and check in to Rivera Runs Through It Every Tuesday to see what the new "What if" question is! Or check in to the list of What If Prompts from the past to see which one you'd like to participate in!