A Letter To My Younger Self…

DEAR YOUNGER ME…

I wish I could sit down with you for just five minutes.

I would look you straight in the eyes and tell you something you desperately need to hear:

STOP WORRYING SO MUCH ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK OF YOU.

You are going to spend far too many years wondering if people approve of you.

You will replay conversations in your head.

You will worry about what they said.

You will wonder why they don’t understand you.

You will change pieces of yourself trying to make other people comfortable.

STOP.

You were never created to be a copy of somebody else.

You weren’t called to live your life according to somebody else’s expectations.

And you certainly weren’t placed on this earth to collect everybody’s approval.

Some people will misunderstand you.

Some will criticize you.

Some will judge your scars without knowing your story.

Some will walk away.

Some will talk about you behind your back.

LET THEM.

You don’t have to defend yourself to everybody.

You don’t have to explain every chapter of your life.

You don’t have to prove your worth to people who have already decided they don’t want to see it.

And here’s something I wish you understood sooner:

Their opinion of you does not determine your identity.

God does.

There will be seasons when you feel broken, forgotten, rejected, misunderstood, and completely alone.

But those seasons will teach you something:

You don’t need everybody to understand your journey when God understands every step of it.

So, younger me…

Dream bigger.

Love harder.

Forgive quicker.

Take more chances.

Laugh more.

Worry less.

And for heaven’s sake…

STOP TRYING TO BE EVERYTHING EVERYBODY ELSE WANTS YOU TO BE.

Be who God created you to be.

Walk in your calling.

Stand on your convictions.

Keep your heart soft.

Keep your faith strong.

And when the crowd says, “Who do you think you are?”

Remember:

You are a child of God.

That’s enough.

You don’t need their applause.

You don’t need their permission.

You don’t need their approval.

You need to keep your eyes on Jesus and keep walking.

Because one day you’ll look back and realize…

The people whose opinions you were so afraid of?

They weren’t writing your story.

GOD WAS.

And younger me…

He’s still writing it.

So keep going.

Keep overcoming.

Keep fighting.

Keep the faith.

And NEVER let somebody else’s opinion become the prison you live in.

YOUR LIFE IS TOO SIGNIFICANT TO SPEND IT TRYING TO BE ACCEPTED BY EVERYBODY.

—Your older self

~OC