Dear Child,

What do I know for sure? What would I tell my 19 year old self to make her less anxious and more self-assured? What have I learned with 33 years of hindsight?

Dear Child,

As you grow up you will learn a lot about making the right choices in life, and how those choices can make or break you. The truth is, not a single one of us can claim to only make the 'right' choices in life. So instead of being stressed out about it, here are some things your middle aged self has learned...after making many good and bad choices.

Don't beat yourself up about your grades. Life doesn't begin and end with grades. You aren't any less of a student than others because they performed better than you in school. It is enough that you work hard and want to do better. Determination and focus will take you much farther in life than good grades alone.

Feel compassion for yourself. Don't ever let what others tell you determine your self-esteem. Your uniqueness is absolutely essential to your purpose and success in life. You were not made to be anything else but yourself, so don't get hung up on superficial things like your looks. Beauty is nothing without character. Besides it is terribly fickle.

There isn't 'a' way to behave if you want to secure the man of your dreams. lol. You cannot lose the people who have a role to play in your life. Trust me. Nothing you do or don't do will make him stay or drive him away. The boy you think you need so badly is probably an idiot.

There's nothing black or white about life. There is a little good and bad inherent in everything, if you look past the immediate results or consequences. When you make a mistake, know that it happened because you have something to learn from it, and know that those lessons had to be learned, one way or another. Remember; 'Your wound is the place where light enters you' - Rumi.

Know that happiness is not something to search for. It comes from within you. Nothing external... no 'one' and no 'thing' and no way of 'being' can make you happy. Find it in the simple things of life that bring you joy, and you will never want for it.

Value silence, time and space. They are the inaudible teachers of wisdom, and they will convey you through a calmer, happier and more peaceful life journey.

From me.