Dear 19 year-old Lindsay,

You’re about to take a step that’s really hard. Something you anxiously dreaded for most of your teen years, because you weren’t sure how it would ever happen.

You’re about to move into residence to start university.

You’ve come so far. Remember when you couldn’t even go on a sleepover for four solid years? Remember how you missed out on weeks at the cottage with your friends because you didn’t want to be away from home? And now you’re moving out. I’m so proud of you!

It’s only 25 minutes from home, but this is a big deal. You’ve worked really hard to get here. It’s not all going to be easy. There’s going to be teary nights and you’ll want to go back home sometimes, but you’re going to surprise yourself. You’ll only make a desperate call home once…and that’s because you hurt your back in the shower (and sorry, it’s not even a fun story). You’re going to have really awesome roommates who totally get this weird quirk you have. Don’t be afraid to be honest with them, they’re going to surprise you.

And this is just the first step. Guess what? When you’re 26, you’re going to buy your own condo, and live all on your own. You’ll live there for longer than you planned, but it’s okay. You’re actually going to love living on your own, I promise. Let that sink in. You’re braver than you think.

And you know what else? You’re going to travel to the other side of the world, to Australia, all on your own. A few years before, you meet a wonderful friend who moves there, and you use that as an excuse to save up a whole lot of money and go on an adventure.

I’ll warn you, some of that anxiety is going to creep up again as you plan the trip. You’re going to go through every worst-case scenario and try to convince yourself not to go. But now you know how to handle it. You can put it in perspective. You understand that nerves aren’t a reason to pack it up and crawl back into your comfort zone. You’ll live in this weird tension where you actually kind of like those nerves, they tell you that you’re growing and that you’re doing something brave.

Please trust me when I say those nerves are a good thing, and taking this step to move away is going to change everything in an amazing way. Because you do this, you’re going to realize how brave you really are…one step at a time.

I’m proud of you brave girl.

Love,
Almost 32 year-old Lindsay