advice from a 19 year old.

Dear you,

First let me say that you are brave.

You're brave for waking up each morning and hauling yourself from your bed or the couch or the floor or wherever you may have been sleeping. You're brave for going outside. You're brave for believing in something. You're brave for not knowing what the meaning of life is, but still living. You're brave because you are trying to figure out what you're supposed to do. You're brave for being here.

But you need to be braver.

You need to take a hike into the mountains on a trail you've never been down before. You need to see that movie even if you don't like romances. You need to say hello to the boy you've had a crush on for the past year. You need to encourage yourself to not just get out of bed, but also actually open up your blinds to let the sun in. You need to believe in more than just something, but something that matters. You need to love yourself and anyone else you can. You need to find out more about here and maybe even travel to there.

 Second is that you are real.

You're a real person with real dreams and real aspirations. You're real because you walk around and you talk to people. You're real because you look at the world and you decide what to make of it. You're real for making things. You're real for breathing, for having a beating heart. You're real because people will remember you. You're real because at birth you were given a name.

But you need to make being real matter.

You need to make those dreams come true. You need to set goals and make them happen. You need to realize that maybe going to a stable job and receiving a stable income isn't actually what you want. You need to explore and figure out that maybe that really is what you want. You need to make people remember you in ways you'd want to be remembered. You need to give yourself your own name. You need to look at the world and discover things you didn't see before.

Third, I need to tell you that you are ultimately what you make yourself.

Nothing about you is predetermined. If you do not make an effort to make yourself into what you want to be, nothing will ever happen. If you want to be an artist, paint. If you want to be an author, write. If you want to be a businessman, sell. You cannot be something without striving to be the best in what you want to be.

Be braver. Be as real as you can be. Be kinder. Believe in something bigger than yourself. And learn to fall in love with yourself.

Sincerely,
xx
Blue