Are there moments when you’ve wished you could go back to the woman or man you were 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago? I have. I think often about the woman I was in my 20’s and 30’s.

Mind you, I don’t miss being twentysomething and thirtysomething. Reliving those years does not interest me. Spare me all that drama; Being fiftysomething suits me just fine. I like the woman I’ve become. But I do wish sometimes that I could go back and bless myself with the love and confidence I desperately longed for back then. I was wracked with self-destructive behavior in my 20’s and self-doubt in my 30’s. And there were lots of reasons for this. But if I’d known then what I know now, I could have spared myself some of the recriminations I heaped on myself. I wouldn’t have been so hard on myself. I could have been kinder, more forgiving to myself and sought the help that I needed so desperately.

Sometimes it’s good to sit down and write a letter to your younger self. Tell your younger self what you wish you’d known then but didn’t.

Bless your younger self today with the words of wisdom and comfort you needed desperately to hear and know back then. Write and assure your younger self that while it appears that it wouldn’t at the time, things did work themselves out for your greater good.

–Renita Weems