Dear younger me,

I know you had all these large plans by the time you got to age 25, and I’m sorry to let you down. I’m not where you thought you would be at this point in time, but something you didn’t understand is that things do change. Life isn’t this perfect cookie cutter thing, it’s a hot mess that everyone struggles with every day. You had aspirations to have your dream career, be married, have your own home, the proper 2.5 kids, and lots of dogs by age 25. Sorry to break the news to you but that is not where you’re at currently. I’m going to tell you that it’s okay to not be where you thought you would be. It’s okay that you’re still trying to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life. There are people out there that don't know what they want in their professional life until they're in their forties. So not knowing at the age of twenty-five is nothing to be too worried about. It’s okay that you’re not married with a house and 2.5 kids, funnily enough you don’t even want kids anymore. You for sure still want dogs though, “fur babies”. You were led to believe from a young age by media and family members that there was a certain way that you had to lead your life. Go through K-12, go to college, magically get your dream job, find a partner, get married, buy a house, have children and live happily ever after. Not saying that this cookie cutter life isn’t attainable for other people, but you will never live this life and that is OKAY. You have a job you like, you have a beautiful girlfriend, you have a fur baby (dog), and you’re trying to buy a house. Yeah things are not happening in the order you thought they would, yes it’s been a big struggle and continues to be every day but that’s how life is...straight up messy. I wish people had been more honest with you as a kid, and not force feed you happy lies. In a way I guess that’s what you do with kids so they don’t lose their spark in life, so they keep on dreaming big. Sometimes I still have that kid spark, but it’s hard to grasp at this age. You help me though, even though I’m not where you want me to be you help me continue to try to be the best version of myself. Thank you for that, thank you for always dreaming big and not completely letting the child within me die.

Sincerely,