Dear younger me :What I wish I knew sooner

Dear Younger Me,

I see you. I see the little girl who had to grow up too fast, who carried burdens far too heavy for her small shoulders. I see the way you tried to hold everything together when it was never your job to. I know you felt invisible, unheard, and unprotected. I wish I could sit beside you and tell you that none of it was your fault.

I wish you knew that you were never meant to be the fixer. Your mother’s addiction was not yours to heal, and her choices were never a reflection of your worth. You were just a child who deserved safety, love, and care. I’m sorry you didn’t get that in the way you should have. But hear me when I say—you were always enough. You didn’t need to prove anything to be loved.

I wish you knew that forgiveness isn’t about excusing the pain—it’s about setting yourself free. The past will try to keep its grip on you, whispering that you are broken, that you are stuck in the story written for you. But you are not. You have the power to write your own ending, to heal, to let go.

I wish you knew that grief isn’t just about losing people—it’s about losing the childhood you should have had. And it’s okay to mourn that. It’s okay to be angry about what you missed, what was taken from you. But don’t let that pain keep you from living the life you still have ahead of you.

I wish you knew that love—real love—doesn’t come with conditions. It isn’t something you earn by keeping quiet, by sacrificing yourself. One day, you will learn to love yourself the way you always deserved to be loved. And when you do, everything will change.

I wish you knew that your story doesn’t end with pain. At 43, you’ll realize that you’ve spent so much of your life just surviving. But now? Now, you get to live. It’s not too late. It was never too late.

So hold on, little one. One day, you will be free. And you will be proud of the woman you’ve become.

With love,
Your Older, Stronger, Healing Self