A Letter to My Younger Self

   
     Recently, I had the opportunity to read a letter I had written to my future self a long time ago.  My husband and I sat together and opened my temple time capsule I had put together as a youth in the LDS Young Women's Program, and inside was a letter to myself, with advice on how I wanted to live my life.  I'd like to believe that so far I have done a decent job at doing so, but there are still some things I wish I had known at an earlier age.  Reading that letter made me think, if I could write a letter back, what would I say?  What would I want my younger self to know?  That thought led me to this blog post. If I could, I would say this:

 Dear Tristen,

      Thank you for letter!  How fun was that was to look back and remember some fun things about myself that I had long forgotten. It has only been, what, nine years?  But nine years is nine years, and so much has changed since then.
     I feel like I have done a decent job living up to the standard of what you want me to be.  I did not become a horse breeder as originally anticipated, but I did reach many other goals.  I am a fourth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I still love horses, and I am married to the kind of man you always wanted to marry.  It was not easy getting to where I am today, but I did it.  My favorite color is now teal and grey, and I am not as much a fan of Taylor Swift anymore.  I mostly listen to country, a few old favorites, and EFY music.  
     I did not read your letter at the intended right time, as I did not know where my time capsule was, but I did read it with my sweet husband, and I do love him dearly, and I do believe I made the right choice.  I don't have children yet, but I plan on following your advice.  I will pay attention to them, love them all my heart and soul, and encourage them to live righteously and follow their dreams.  
     Since I was blessed to hear some advice from my younger self, I would like to give some advice as well.  First, don't date until your are sixteen.  When you get into high school, there will be a boy. He will ask you out, many times, and at some point he will get in front of your English class and do a special dance just for you, and you will want to finally say yes to being his girlfriend.  Don't do it. Just trust me on this one.  You don't need a boyfriend.  Focus on making lasting friendships.  When you are sixteen, go on group dates.  Get to know the people around you.  Learn what kind of guys you do and don't like.  Know how much you are worth, and expect to be treated as such, but also recognize the worth of others, and treat them as such as well. 
     Second, be a better friend.  You will always try to be kind to everyone, and when someone tells you otherwise, you will honestly have no clue as to why that might be, and what went wrong.  Let's be honest, you can be a little oblivious at times, but I have learned that is not always a bad quality.  You are just a sweet soul who wants to make everyone around you happy.  Just be honest with those around you.  I promise, if you do that, you will make friends that will last you a lifetime. 
     That brings me to my third point, and listen carefully to this one: you can't make everyone happy, and that is OK! You will try, and you will beat yourself up over and over every time you fail. This does not give you the excuse to never worry about others thoughts and feelings.  It is good to be empathetic, and you should always stay sweet, and kind to others.  I admire those qualities about my younger self.  But, don't compromise your self worth just to make someone else happy, because by doing so, you are taking away from your own true happiness.  
     And finally, the last piece of advice I would like to offer my younger self.  A lot of the trouble you will get yourself into will come from one thing: the desire to have that one person you can always talk to about anything and everything.  You will wish, and you will pray, and you will search, but you will miss it, every time. You will think you have found that person over and over again, but you will be mistaken every time if you do not heed my advice. That person you have been looking for has been there all along, and He has answered your prayers over and again.  That person is your loving Savior, Jesus Christ.
     As you pray, you will feel His love.  Don't only open up your heart to Him here and there, open it always.  Pray always.  Tell Him everything, and He will guide you along your path.  He will comfort you when you are sad, and when you are confused.  Heed His promptings, for He will guide you down the right path.  It took me too long to learn this, and I have made many mistakes, lost many friends, in my search for that one person.
     I have been so blessed in my life, more so than I will ever be able to express. After wishing, and searching, and praying for that friend I could talk to about anything, who would love me no matter what, and after finding that friend in my Savior, Jesus Christ, He blessed me with another one of those friends.  That friend will one day be your husband.  Be honest with him, too, and always remember to thank your Father in Heaven for the wonderful man you will one day be blessed with.  I won't tell you exactly how you will know you have found the right man, because you will just know.  You will feel it.  You will know it is him.  Some people will think you are crazy because you will know it so quickly; even you will think you are crazy, but just own it.  Marry him anyways, and you will be grateful every single day that you did.  
     You will make many mistakes, and I could give advice about every single bit of it, but know this, all in all you turn out okay. Know your worth, and live like you know it. 

 Love,

 Tristen (21 years old, September 8, 2017).  
For more About Me, visit http://blog.allthingstristen.com/search/label/About%20Me
For more Marriage/Family, visit http://blog.allthingstristen.com/search/label/Marriage%2FFamily

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