Dear Younger Self,
Stay away from anything that goes against your gut feeling. It is crucial that you develop this habit. Almost as if walking when you see a green light and stopping when it turns red. I know you are taught to mostly rationalize things in life, but truth is, one always knows the way to go without thinking about it too much. That “gut feeling” is a sense you have that serves as a built-in guide in life. It is basically listening to yourself, not to your mind, but to your feelings and reactions to situations. Thinking things through is obviously necessary, but your intuition has the power to direct you to what will be positive for you in the end. It’s not acting from an egocentric place though, because then you would just do whatever you want. It is following your inner voice, which many times will tell you what you don’t want to hear.
This guide that you have inside will help you find your way through life. What path you should follow, what career you would be happiest with, and what job opportunities you should take. Also, which relationships and friendships are good for you. This last point is tricky, because you tend to be emotionally invested in relationships and friendships. And following your emotions is not the same as following your gut feeling. So there is a conflict between the heart, the mind, and the intuition. Like I said before, listen to your gut. Keep a balance between the three, though, because thinking things through is healthy, and so is being emotionally aware up to a point.
Image from Qieer Wang on Giphy
You get so emotionally involved with people, so please don’t take people’s actions personally. You spend so much unnecessary energy in reaction to what people say or do “against” you. But in reality, what people do is their responsibility and their own matters, what you do is your responsibility and your own matter. In fact, what people do has nothing to do with you, it has to do with themselves. By understanding this, you literally have the capacity to stay within your own person and avoid being affected at a destructive level. All you need to take personally is yourself! Focus on your words, on your actions, on your dreams, and on your path. If you invest your energy on yourself you will build a healthy wall between external situations and you. This wall will mark your limit. But in order to obtain a platform this sturdy, you must take time to work on yourself.
Image from Qieer Wang on Giphy
Working on yourself will create a stable personal base. What I mean by this is really focusing on your passions, dreams, and basically working on developing your voice. In other words, finding yourself. It is normal to get caught up in trends, in new social circles, relationships, etc. But those things eventually fade. When they pass, what is left? You! And if you have no idea what you like, what you aspire to, what your hobbies are, you can really feel lost and it’s devastating. I’m not saying to stay away from anything that’s not stable, but to take time once in a while to work on something personal to you. Something that you always have access to no matter what. It could be a hobby, a project, or an interest. Anything. Just build something that is yours and no one else’s.
There’s no instruction guide to life. You have to live it and learn from it. Reading will get you to understand certain things in life, but practicing what you read is the key, although difficult too. But it’s about taking things in, trying a little every day to practice what you learn and finding your own way through the challenges in life. Don’t lose strength. You have everything within you to live fully.
Love,
Me