Letters to my 16 year old self

Dear Justine,
Seriously..... stop harming your body in the nine hundred various ways that only you can do. Dummy.

Dear Justine,
Wait. Forget the dummy part. Stop being so critical of yourself. Stop putting yourself down. And stop thinking you are fat. You weigh 90 pounds. That is not fat. One day you'll look back and wish for your 16 year old body again.

Dear Justine,
Look around at all your friends. The ones you love and would do anything for. You think you will be best friends. Forever. You'll grow up and grow apart. Love them the best you can for the time that you have. One day, the stories you tell about growing up will have them in starring roles.

Dear Justine,
Actually there will be a couple that you will still be friends with. You will think of them like family.

Dear Justine,
The things that devastate you will one day not seem so important. Actually let me rephrase that. Some of them will still break your heart a bit, but you will have hindsight. Others though? The terrible things, the embarrassing things, all the times you screamed, "OH MY GOD!!!!! I will never get over this!!!" type things? You will. You might even laugh about them. No, really..... you will.


Dear Justine,
Purple lip gloss..... not such a good idea. And I hate to break it to you, but crushed velvet isn't really either.

Dear Justine,
Here is what I will leave you with. Try new things. Don't live your life afraid to be hurt. That's no way to live. Make mistakes. Trust me, you will. Love who you love, and don't regret it. Don't rush growing up. It will get here soon enough. There are a lot of other things that I could warn you about. Tell you not to do. Avoid at all costs. But you are 16, and you wouldn't listen to me anyway because, "Dude, you are like totally old." Plus, I kind of like you just the way you are.