The other day I was looking through my old Facebook pictures. All the way to the first one. I haven’t done that in a while.

I was surprised by my reaction. A year ago, I would have seen my flat stomach or smooth skin of a teenager…I would have seen the happy me with my friends. But what I saw was the full picture. Yes, I was happy, but I was also very sad back then. I didn’t know how or when or where or what. I was confused. Is that how all teenagers feel? Back then I just assumed it was and I tried to listen to the advice given those days to just ignore those feelings and be happy. Easy. Done.

Except those feelings didn’t go away, they were pushed deep inside myself. Where they hid waiting for their moments.

Or maybe those feelings became my operating system. Who knows?

The point is that I wish I could go back in time and tell myself all of this. All these lessons I had to learn for myself. It was hard. I don’t think everyone should have to do that.

Humanity is built on learning from each other. And that might be my favorite thing about humans.

I can remember myself at those stages in life, connect with my heart and send her love because she’s stronger than she knows.

And today, I realized I can do something else. I can share her story. Because there are others out there going through something I went through. I will tell them what I learned and they can use it and change it and make it their own.

Thank you!

Am I getting it now?

Yes.