May 7, 2019

A Letter To My Younger Self

Dear younger self,

There are so many lessons that life has to offer you. From a young age you are going to learn that life is not fair at times. You are going to miss out on your “teenage years” due to your illnesses. You are going to go through things that most kids your age do not have to deal with. You are going to experience a lot of hardships, but know you have the strength to persevere.

Do not be ashamed of the battles you have to fight and the scars you will get along the way. All the challenges you are going to face are going to make you SO strong. Always remember that there is beauty in the storm. You may not see the beauty while you are in the eye of the storm but once the storm settles down you will look back and realize that there really was beauty in the chaos.

As you endure your hardships you are going to realize how many people love and care about you. You are blessed enough to have a great support system. Do not forget how loved you are. It is going to be hard to stay positive at times, but surround yourself with positive and uplifting people. Always try to be present in the moment. Take it day by day. Your life is truly going to be changed each time you receive a new diagnosis. Each time your heart is going to drop. Each time you are going to want to give up. Each time you are going to ask yourself “why me?”. Each time you are going to fight with everything you have. Each time you will be stronger than the time before.

While enduring the challenges you will face you are going to learn to appreciate the little things in life that most people take for granted. You are really going to learn to appreciate being able to walk, to eat, to go to school and to be surrounded by the people who love you the most.

There are going to be times where you do not understand why you are faced with hardships and how much it affects the things you are able to do. Do not compare yourself to others your age. It is okay you missed a lot of school. It is okay that you had to stop playing sports. It is okay you were not able to go to your junior year homecoming. It is okay that you had to take a medical leave from college. It is all okay.

Life is beautiful. Find beauty in the small things, laugh as much as possible and do not take a second for granted. Even though it may feel like everything is falling apart at times, you are going to be okay and you are going to come out stronger than you were before. Be strong and fight with everything you have.

Much Love,

Your future self

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