Letter to a Kid I Knew

Dearest 16 Year Old,

I know you are doing good. Friends, Family, Grades & Girlfriend, I know everything is going great. I dearly hope it continues the same way but it will not.

Let me tell you about myself as you're slowly transitioning to what I am today. We are not different. We are the same person with a barrier of Calendar dates with a deep trench of difference in the thought process. You are happy with no fear of the outcomes of your daily actions. You are not accountable for your mistakes or choices. It is going to change soon,

Times will change. Every move you make will be watched by your future. You will be suffocated by the thoughts of today & what it’d be like tomorrow.

You might not like the people you are surrounded by today but they will not scar you or make you envious about things that you can't achieve. I want you to know that as you will grow up, the surrounding is going to turn into a pack of wolves with little compassion & love. There will be few by your side, fighting their own battles and listening to you. Sometimes trying to guide you into a war they never fought, for they think it’s worth fighting.

I know you’re waiting for adulthood with arms wide open and dreams in your eyes. I do not want you to be broken when the time comes. I know you are full of ego which you disguise as self-respect which is why I need to tell you this. You will have to accept a few attributes of life which you need to let go. There are going to be times you will fail miserably and there are going to be times when your chest will pump with pride. I want you to know neither of them will last.  When the time comes and you feel suffocated and dead, I want you to get up & leave without knowing where you’re heading. I cannot promise you it will be better or I can’t prepare you for the outcomes. I can only tell you that you will feel good as long as you keep going.

And at last, I know you don’t know what will make you happy. I don’t know either, I want you to keep looking for it throughout. You might find it difficult to figure out for very long and if I am addressing this letter to you today, we haven’t found it yet. We’ll team up and look for it together.

You might think why did I choose you over other stages of my 25-year-old life, I think you know.

You are probably the best stage of the first 25 years of this average life. The Happiest, most celebrated, confident & more than all of this, you haven’t learned to fake yet. You will soon turn into an individual hiding behind sheets of paper for people to think you are telling someone else’s story when you will be telling yours.

Stay Strong!

Yours,

25 Year Old