My birthday was in February, and my friends surprised me with a spectacular weekend trip. I was completely shocked when I saw a huge celebratory poster with images of me growing up hanging in our hotel room.
The friends who did this didn't know younger me. They've heard bits and pieces about younger me, but they never knew younger me. Seeing pictures of my younger self in the same room as my adult friends was surreal. Two worlds collided in that happy birthday moment.
When I noticed the pictures, memories came flooding back. The good, the bad, the ugly. The heartbreak, the joys, the scared moments, and the sacred moments. All of it came to a head. I wasn't sure how to process the swell of emotion that hit me with a wave of childhood memories, especially after moving across the world and deconstructing my beliefs.
At first, I teared up and smiled as I remembered little me. I cringed at my teenage self, and I was angry at my mistakes as I grew and the thought of how naive and ignorant I was. I felt sorry for the childhood moments I couldn’t control. However, and probably because of therapy, I instinctively embraced the younger me with great love, happiness, and grace.
Younger me met current me at that exact moment and I embraced her, all of her.
It was then the tides of my thoughts shifted, and l whispered to my heart: Look how far we’ve come. Look how much we’ve been through. Look how much we’ve overcome. Look at everything wonderful we’ve done and every wonderful place we’ve been. Come, let’s discover the adventure yet to be.
Happy Birthday, younger me. The best is yet to be.
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