Younger me,

I am writing you this letter because I feel the need to explain a few things. It's been on my chest lately, so here goes nothing.

You're biggest dream was to move to Hollywood and become an actress like Raven Symone or Kay Panabaker. I hate to break it to you, but that isn't exactly how it turned out. I never moved to Hollywood and I never became a famous actress. However, I am going to college to better myself (our self?) and to have a brighter future.

I know you have "crushes" on boys and you get heartbroken after your 2nd grade love comes to an end after a long two weeks. I promise you, there will many more heartbreaks where that came from. I don't mean to scare you, but it will happen. There will be nights when you cry yourself to sleep because some boy decided he didn't want you anymore. It's going to be hard, but it's going to be worth it. All those heartbreaks have led up to you meeting the person you will (possibly) spend the rest of your life with. And guess what? Those heartbreaks don't matter anymore. You're heart is more full then it ever has been. You're happy.

Heads up, there will be that stage when you fall away from Christ. You will blame God for everything that has gone wrong. After years of secretly struggling with your faith, you will fall more in love with Christ then you ever have. So never give up and don't lose faith. God has a plan for everyone and everything. I promise.

A word of advice, whenever mom "nags" you to clean your room or to spend time with her, do it. We've almost lost her twice already. Trust me, when you see her helpless, lying in that hospital bed, you'll wish you would have never back talked her. EVER. Please don't take her for granted because you never know when she might not be there anymore.

One last thing, always be kind. No matter who does you wrong or how life has treated you, always be generous and loving. Do random acts of kindness and show absolute love to anyone you meet. I know it's going to be really, really hard sometimes, but it's amazing what affect being kind can have.

You've got a long life ahead of you, make the best of it.

Love,

20 year old you