There are letters to the editor. Kids write letters to Santa. We sometimes write letters to our elected officials. We anticipate letters of acceptance. We would like to forget those dreaded Dear John letters.

Much of this correspondence has been translated to texts, tweets, and emails — so much so, when we see a real written note or letter in our mailbox, we are thrilled.

Unless your name is John.

What if we were to pull out a piece of paper, and pen a letter to our younger selves?

Surely, we have gained wisdom, perspective, and experience enough to counsel our younger selves at a time when a comforting word of encouragement would have done us a world of good.

What would our advice look like?

You are enough.

Be easier on yourself.

Look up and breathe.

Relax.

You are strong enough, smart enough, and kind enough to make a difference.

This world needs you.

You are discovering wonderful things about yourself, and that will never stop.

For as long as you live, you will build upon your strengths and abilities.

When things get rough, remember who you are.

Do good.

Search for the easiest, small task you can do to move closer to your goals, and then keep doing that every single day.

Always fill your mind with gratitude for the blessings in your life, both great and small.

Of course, our younger selves cannot read that note just written, full of encouragement and hope. Would we have benefitted from such a note?

I think so.

Therefore, what could we write about to our present selves? We still have cares and concerns; projects can overwhelm; relationships hit snags; and we can still lose our way sometimes.

The same way we might have regarded that unsure little child in our first letter, let’s regard ourselves today, with an equal measure of love, patience, and understanding.

Like that child, we are breaking new ground every day. We’ve never been this old before. Everything is new.

The world is constantly changing, our bodies are changing, there are new ways of doing things, and we still need words of encouragement.

As we figuratively write that letter to ourselves, or as we visualize sitting on a park bench with ourselves, may our counsel be helpful.

May we realize that those around us need our uplifting words of hope and inspiration as well.

In practicing kindness to ourselves first, we can more easily be kind to others.

In peace and health –

Deidre