10 Things I Wish I Knew at Eleven Years Old

I’ve done this a couple of times, since a very young age. Sometimes, mostly in the recent years, somethings I’ve written make me wonder what on Earth was I thinking?! Some papers hold truths that even the world has forgotten, others have random gibberish about what ever I was complaining about. And others, the earliest ones were from 1999, were stories set in different worlds with different species and different views on life. Where did all this creativity go?!

What would be beneficial and most rewarding, would be writing a letter to our past selves. I would love to tell myself everything I have learned till now. It’d make the journey a little easier to bear and know that in ten years, I’ll still be alive and sane.

So, I came up with a list of ten things I would tell my eleven year old self.

Here we go:

1. You are beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise and don’t let their words get to you.

2. You are naïve, but it is okay. It gets better; brace yourself though, because you have some tough years ahead of you.

3. Practice your singing. You have a really great “Opera” voice. It goes away when you don’t practice; your voice can’t support the high pitch notes after a while, especially when you stop singing all together. I know, I’m there now.

4. Your brother will always be annoying and loud; but you know what, he’s your brother. Love him and take care of him because he really helps you out during those really sad moments in your life. And when no one else is there, he’s the one that cheers you up. You will fight and argue like cats and dogs, but he’s a cool little dude.

5. When you reach high school go make friends, talk to them and laugh with them. Don’t be by yourself so often, I know your books are simply amazing, but get yourself out there a little more. Once you do, high school gets better. Just don’t wait till Junior year. That is all.

6. There will be heart breaks and lots of drama, and friends that will let you down and try to destroy the confidence you’ve built. Let them talk. You’ll feel sad, your friends will slowly start to avoid you, BUT (even though it sounds bad) the truth gets out. Always. So when they realize their mistake, they’ll come back. They will. I know, because I still talk to them and we’re still good friends. And we still hang out.

7. In a year, you’re going to get an idea. You are going to draw a map; you are going to write this amazing science essay. Expand it; built it; and work on it. Trust me, if you do that at twelve by the time you get to my age, it is brilliant.

8. The world is tough little one, but you’ll survive. The beauty lies in the simplest of places. Take a breather and go for many walks. Look at the details of the life that surrounds you; it is beautiful.

9. Don’t let people push you around. You are you and that’s that. Most times, bullies have nothing better to do and usually have problems of their own that they can’t handle.

10. Be yourself. — You’ll understand why. But simply be yourself. Don’t go trying to fit in; you simply don’t. You’re one of the few that stands out no matter what you do. Your enthusiasm and team spirit actually helps, so don’t get all quiet. I did. It wasn’t that great. In fact, it was pretty bad. You don’t want to go there.

—-

I’m pretty sure if I read this at eleven, I’d most likely say “Yeah right” and stuff it in an old book.

If you could write a letter your past self, what would you say?