To my younger self and the next generation,

Write or type out your pain. Use your pain to fuel your purpose and you’ll be surprised at what you gain. To my inner child, my inner voice, to the little girl with the glasses and braces who is awkward but means well, the one with a naturally inquisitive mind, this is for you. Here are some tips that can help you on your path of life:

• Healing is a journey and not a destination. Wise people will tell you, “I am healing everyday”. Every day is a step towards betterment of yourself.

• If you feel like you didn’t get “enough” done today, give gratitude for the day and what you did get done. That’s self-compassion – which is difficult for those of us who can be very hard on ourselves for the things that we should’ve done or would’ve done with the knowledge that we have now. Don’t spend so much time beating up yourself. Reflect and move forward.

• Ground yourself. As you gain knowledge, your instinct will be to get even more knowledge than you currently have. But by doing so without grounding yourself, you may get anxiety or make your current anxiety worse than it already is. Find out how to stay grounded and get a therapist or some other kind of professional help if needed.

• Always go with your intuition, even when it doesn’t make sense to the outside world. One of the most important things that you can develop is to learn the difference between your ego and your intuition. Your intuition could be something very simple (Go home after the grocery store…so that you won’t get into that car accident that will happen later) or something more complex (This job is too much for you).

• Learning how to set boundaries is a life changer and will save you from a lot of headaches in life. Read articles and books about boundaries. They are so important, especially when it comes to preventing burnout. You’ll see soon enough.

• Forgiveness is hard but holding onto resentment is even harder. I know it’s hard to forgive people who refuse to acknowledge what they did and offer an apology. Deep down inside, we all want to be acknowledged. The most important and yet most difficult step that we can take towards forgiveness is learning how to forgive ourselves. Forgive ourselves for not knowing better or doing better in the moment. Remember, healing is not a linear journey. Be kind to yourself.

• Nurture yourself and your inner child by doing all the things that you used to enjoy or wanted to try doing. Start doing things for yourself pertaining to your love language (i.e., giving yourself gifts, or repeating words of affirmation towards yourself). Go ice skating, get an adult coloring book, and/or just take time to be still. Enjoy each moment.

• You will get to know people by their ‘fruits’/their actions. Watch how people treat others or talk about others in their life. They will almost always do the same to you. Surround yourself with the right people. They rub off on you whether you realize it or not.

• It’s better to just drop a seed of advice than to force people into doing what you think is best. They may start to resent you if you do so or feel embarrassed when you’re right and may be afraid to tell you things in the future. Let God, The Universe, or whatever you believe in teach them the lesson that they are due for. Some people are determined to learn the hard way or having to go through some stuff to learn, instead of learning by observing others.

• Don’t focus so much on others that you forget about yourself and don’t expect you from other people. Prioritize yourself and indulge in self-care. Don’t worry about grind culture or whatever else is popular. You are a constant giver and have done more than enough for people.

• If your life got better after someone came into your life, keep them around, at least for now. If your life felt better after letting go of someone, let it stay that way, even if it hurts. It doesn’t mean that don’t care about them anymore, but it’s time to let them go. You come first.

• Finally, pass your knowledge down to the next generation, like what I’m doing now. They can benefit from your greatness and your strength that you didn’t even know that you had. Enjoy your life and dance in the sun or rain. Look at the moon and the stars, sunset and sunrise and all of God’s creation. It’s amazing. Despite all the chaos in the world, there is still beauty in it. Take out time to enjoy it.