A Letter to my Younger Self
Hey Cole,
Whatsup?
You're only 16 and I'm writing to you to give you a tad bit of advice on things now that I'm able to look back on them.
First things first, as much as you might think so right now, the world doesn't revolve around you, my friend. As crazy as it seems, being involved with others, and impacting their lives, is what's going to impact yours so much more than you ever could on your own. No worries though, Cole, you'll learn this in time.
You know Mady? Yeah, the one you've had a "thing" for since the eighth grade? You're engaged to her now, so it's probably a good idea to start taking her up on her offers to give you a ride home. That's another way that you will become less selfish, she's going to be one of the main reasons you are the person that you are today.
I understand your great love for basketball, but you need to relax a little bit, and have more fun with it. But keep up the hard work, the work ethic you're forming now will translate into other areas of your life that you will need to work on! You might think I'm being a bit hard on you, but you're doing well bud.
I know it seems that life is great now, but it will continue to get better! Of course, there's gonna be a few rough times you'll have to face, but as long as you continue to focus on the good in things, and in people, everything will be alright.
Warmest Regards,
Cole
For those of you that knew me in high school, you know that I have changed quite a bit since I was the Cole that was being written to in this letter.
As anybody else in their high school years I was learning. Learning how to make my way through life, learning who I could trust, learning who I was, learning from my many mistakes, and mostly trying to learn where I fit in among others.
These were just a few things I wish I could've told myself while facing life at sixteen. But instead, I had to make my way through life the hard way, just as we all have to!
I think this just goes to show how important listening to others is, even though I can't pass these thoughts down to my younger self, I can pass them down to anybody. Even those that are older! We all learn important life lessons at different paces, and that's all due to our life experiences and how we've learned to live with things that have happened to us in the past. Just as I find it so easy to show love to others, or have a positive outlook on things, there's someone else out their that is struggling to learn to do just that. You never know what the person next to you is dealing with, and that's why it's so important for us to not allow our judgmental human nature to deny interaction with another person just because they are different from us. After all, diversity is what makes you and I special on this earth!