Dear Future Kids,
I know I may not be the best mother on the planet, I can have days where I don’t even want to get out of bed, but I am trying every day to be as good as I can. There will be things we will plan to do that will fall through, times when I will lose my temper, and other days when everything will fall into place. There will be good and bad moments, days when we yell at each other, and others where we can walk in silence and contentment.
But if there’s anything I want to teach you, or take away from my life (which must seem old and distant from yours), it’s these few lessons that I didn’t learn until late. I hope the way we’ve raised you have taught you already to be generous with your heart, kind with your words, but also your actions. I hope we have showed you that we will love you no matter what, forever and for always. That you will always be our child, our love, and our treasure even when we don’t say it.
I hope you have learned from us to not let other people convince you to be something you are not. To convince you that you are not okay the way you are. You aren’t at your final state, and we never are. We are constantly evolving, changing, and how we are is only who we are in that moment. I hope you know that when people lash out at you, it’s more about themselves than it is you. I hope you know that authority, a uniform, or power, does not mean you ever have to blindly obey. I want you to know you should always question, even me (although I will hate it). I want you to believe in your power to change the world, to know that something you do can make a difference, whether it be on a large level or just treating those around you kindly. I want you to know that relying on others does not make you weak, we live in webs, in communities, and learning to trust is an important lesson (especially when your trust has been betrayed, which it will). People will make mistakes, but they also are able to change. While we shouldn’t walk around naively, we should recognize the best in people and their ability to evolve. I hope you have learned that making mistakes is not bad, you can gain experience from anything (even if it’s learning not to do something in the future). Mistakes can teach you something, and you will pull yourself to the other side, changed. Change is important, don’t let the fear of change paralyze you from moving.
Trust your heart even when people try to tell you otherwise. Your heart may lead you into trouble, or even heartache, but if you ignore it, it can never lead you to happiness or love. Trust your gut, learn that you are worthy of love of others, but more and most importantly yourself. I hope you have learned the importance of self love, the importance of saying no, not overloading yourself, learning that you need to love and value yourself.
There are and will be other lessons I will want you to learn from me, but this is all for this letter.
You are strong and you are loved.
Especially by me.