Little girl, I know you have wished to be older. I know you wish to be in a new stage in your life so that you will not have to deal with the mess you are in now. We have all wished to jump in a time machine and become older. Every stage in life, yes even being young kids in grade school, comes with its own difficulties. For some reason we always believe that as soon as we overcome our most demanding obstacle, or we check items off our bucket lists and reach our goals, we will be satisfied. However, the reality is each new stage comes with its own challenges and new goals to achieve. Therefore, little girl spend as much time as you can in each stage of life. Enjoy the little things. Enjoy the heartaches, the boring times, the celebrations, the laughs, and every moment in between.

Little girl, trust me, I have been there, I know life throws us curve balls, and the grass always looks greener on the other side. There is nothing I would not give to just finally turn 21 because I want people to finally trust me and not place the annoying teenager label on me. I would love to be done with school, have my degree, and working my dream job in a children’s hospital as a speech therapist. The road to where I want to be is long and has a lot of pot holes; I would love to just get in a plane and fly over all the bumps and have a family and a good career.

At the same time, I would give everything just to go back in time and just be a little girl again. I would love to go back to when my mom packed me lunch. I would give anything to get back the imagination I had as a young girl. I wish I could go back to jumping on the trampoline with my dad, sister, and brother, and laughing uncontrollably. I miss how enjoyable life was when I was younger; how the simplest things could make me smile. I miss coming home from school and finding something to play with for hours. I miss the excitement of having a friend sleepover. Summers felt never ending as a kid. Life as a little girl was something magical, but now that I am older that magic is gone.

Little girl, I know being older may seem like something exciting. In today’s world they define happiness as success, but what is considered being successful enough? There is so much society wants us to do and achieve, and we are expected to do it all at such a young age. Please, I am begging you, do not fall into the trap, stop trying to grow up so fast.

Little girl, remember when you got a brand new toy? It was this new, exciting thing and you were on cloud nine. Now, remember what happened to that toy? It became old, dirty, and boring. You wanted the next big thing. Well, life can be the same way. We always want to get to the next new and exciting stage of our life. We want this because life gets hard and when we reach a new stage, yes, it can be pleasent and makes us happy. However, that time will pass, and you will encounter new hindrances.

Little girl, I am not trying to ignore the fact that life is frustrating or that your problems are not significant just because they are not “adult problems,” all I am saying is embrace the rough times. Slow down. When you are feeling flustered, don’t get super stressed and try your hardest to find a way out. Take a second and breathe. Grab a blanket, a snack, and a book, or watch a movie with your family and worry about the problem tomorrow.

Enjoy what you can at each stage of your life (not just the younger stages) while you can because the reality is, problems will always be in our life, but some of the things we enjoy can slip through our fingers and by the time we try and fix our grip, it is too late. Everything will be okay. Life will go on, I promise; do not waste your time looking so far ahead into the future you forget to look at what is in front of you. Little girl, don’t grow up too fast because as soon as you do you will be wishing to just go back.