A letter to myself... 10 years younger...

I interrupt my stream of travel photos to get a bit prosaic.  Blame it on my upcoming birthday and subsequent increase in the ones column of my age and the feelings of thoughtfulness that I always seem to experience during the autumn.  Blame it on my recent acquisition of the first 10 NOW CDs... especially the one that includes that one Baz Luhrmann song.  Blame it on what you will, but I wanted to write a letter myself that included things that I wish I'd known 10 years ago.

Everything changes.  The days.  The seasons.  The weather.  The only thing constant in life is change.  Get used to it.

People will walk into your life and then about face right back out of your life.  Let them go.

You will share secrets and those that you've shared those secrets with may choose to use them against you.  Just know that those are the people who didn't deserve your trust in the first place.  It's ok that you misjudged them.  Judgment isn't cool anyway.

You will settle into patterns.  When those patterns feel comfortable, they'll change and you'll be on a new path.  It'll be scary for a while, but you'll figure it out.  And then you'll settle into a comfortable pattern until life shakes you up again.

You're going to go through some lean years and you'll learn to survive them, but when they're over don't forget to loosen the purse strings once in a while.  You'll miss out on all the fun if you don't.

On the flip side, make sure that you always have an emergency fund.

If you think you're bored now, embrace it.  Your life will get so busy sometimes that you barely have time to eat or sleep.  Embrace the dull times.

Let yourself fall in love.  It may not always last and it'll drive you insane while you're in it.  When it ends, it's going to hurt like hell, but you'll survive.  And you'll have some killer memories to look back upon.

You're going to have some amazing experiences.  They will be times that you hold all other experiences to.  You will put these experiences on a pedestal and compare everything to them.  Don't get too wrapped up in these times.  Don't get stuck living completely in the memories of them.  Every day is a gift, but every day may not be 7,000% magical.  That's ok.  You've got air to breathe, water to drink, and a shelter over your head.

Stop.  Just stop what you are doing.  Go outside.  Look at the sky.  Hug a tree.

Have a face to face conversation with someone.  Anyone.  A 2-year old.  A stranger.  Your mom.

Remember that the little things make a difference.  Smile when you see a butterfly.  Close your eyes and drink in those random beams of warm sunlight in the middle of winter.  Savour the smell of coffee roasting.

Consume life.  Not stuff.

Enjoy. 

Dress c/o AMI Clubwear

Denim jacket c/o Charlotte Russe

Fringe heel boots c/o AMI Clubwear

Necklace from ebay