Social Media+Old Photographs +Creating a Life to Love.

This morning I was served up a photo from 13 years ago by Facebook. It struck me as odd how very, very unaware I was of all that the next thirteen years would hold for me. I seem so innocent in this photo.

This simple photo had me reflecting all day long to be totally honest.

So, I decided to do something I do quite often. I wrote myself a little letter. This time to the woman in this photo. My 13-year-old younger self. I won’t share everything in that letter because that would be weird, but I’ll share the highlights I think might be helpful:

You are so much stronger than you think you are. You’ll face some crazy, insane life challenges, and you’ll have your heart shattered but whoa, you’ll put your shattered heart back together in a way that is so much better, way more compassionate, and just so much more loving than you knew was even possible. I’m so grateful for all the great things that have come my way and there have been many. But as I age, I’ve truly come to see the gift our struggles bring us.

If you’re going through something, try hard and find the gifts.

Wherever you go there you are. Try and remember what this phrase really means sweetheart. (Yes, I would call the woman in this photo “sweetheart” because I know now how much kinder I should have been to her all along.) Life is what is happening now. Life is in the tiny moments when you find yourself smiling for no reason. You are right where you need to be.

You really are right where you’re supposed to be. Trust the magic of that.

And last but not least….You can create a life you truly love.

So that’s all. That’s what I would tell my 13-year-old younger self.

As much as we all wonder about the impact of social media on our lives, I truly love the “random photos from our past” thing it tosses at us.

It might actually be softening our collective hearts. And giving us a wee bit of perspective. I hope so.