An encouraging letter from August 1st, 2017

Dear Self, Today is a beautiful day in the past. It is a sunny yet cool day in August and you are sitting on the porch surrounded by citronella. You are doing positivity journaling. You've been doing this for about 6 months now and it has changed your life, how you see people and the beauty you are able to find. Right now, you are laughing at the things you used to worry about 5-10 years ago. You are laughing because they were so pure for the time, they truly mattered... but now you see that they didn't hold as much weight as they seemed to at the time. Remember that... that things are either not as heavy as they seem or that you will grow stronger. Either way, it will become less heavy. You see, today as you read this letter you are likely holding something heavy. Whatever it is that you are holding, know that it will not always be that heavy. And I am giving you permission to let it go if you need to. You fill find it necessary to let things go simply because they are heavy. And that's okay, okay? As you reminsce on the past 5 years, I want you to look at how you have triumphed. That's a theme in your life, you know? You triumph. I am not entirely unconvinced that you and I, the we were a warrior in a past life, but I digress. As you read this note in the future, I am smiling for you now in the past. I am smiling because chances are that you have seen some shit since I have written to you. In fact, I will be so bold as to say that you've been through some shit... but even now I smile. I smile because I know you and I know your potential. I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that you made that shit into manure! You took whatever shit life threw at you, and you used that shit as seasoning to plant a goddamn garden! And in that garden grew wisdom. I know you have shared that wisdom. That is who you are. You are more than your worries. Your worries and your struggles answer to YOU, not the other way around. One of the sure things in lif, is that there will be shit. I mean, there's a whole kids book about it (everybody poops). But it is up to YOU what you do with that shit. Do you wanna have a shitty day or do you want to grow something? Carry on, you little warrior, you.