Dear Child,

                I write this to you at sixteen years old, and I realize all I tell you is only what I have learned in the life I have lived so far. I have no secrets to reveal about college, about love, about careers, about true independence. All that I can tell you is that which I have learned until now—learned the hard way, of course. I know that you won’t believe everything I say, but please try, for trust me, the learning of it is not easy. Life is indeed a game; remember that it is beautiful. You’re here for a reason. And when you feel yourself doubting the purpose of your life, just ask yourself, Why have we been given life if not to love it?

                Have you heard of the yin and the yang? It’s something that you should take to heart—something I think is true. There is, in everything bad, a ray of light, some good. And, in everything good, there is undoubtedly something bad that comes with the good. Learn to live realistically—keep yourself grounded by the bad in the good; keep your hope alive by finding the good in all bad. If you learn to find the good, not all shall be bad.

We are all weak inside: it is the ability to learn and grow by this weakness that will make us stronger in the end. Do not fear weakness; instead, acknowledge it, for the doing will make you stronger.  If we weren’t weak, we couldn’t be strong. Learn from your mistakes. Mistakes are, in fact, the best things, because they teach us what doesn’t work. No one knows the right way to do everything—life is a game of trial and error. If you want to find what works, you must know first what doesn’t work. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. If we didn’t make mistakes, some things would never feel so right. Your choices are half chance[1]; sometimes all you need to do is turn to one road and take it where it will lead you. We can’t always make the right decisions at the right times, so if you’ve taken the wrong road, just turn around and backtrack until you find the fork in the road where you can take the right one. And don’t be afraid to be wrong. Wisdom is not knowing things; it’s knowing when you don’t.

When your sky is falling down all around you—just remember: the sun will rise again. Each day does, in fact, bring a new beginning, whether is be complete or only in a small way. Don’t bring your baggage from one day over into the next—the new day is an opportunity for new action, new life. Let your failures of the past day set with the day’s sun, and when the sun rises again, let your dreams and motivation take center stage. The past is past; let it be so.

                Don’t lose sight of tomorrow—but still, don’t ever forget about today. Life is composed of three things: today, tomorrow, and yesterday. None can exist without the others. Remember this. Your time is an elaborate chain. Remember each moment, each link on the chain, is its own masterpiece.

                Remember that the world won’t stop to wait for you. No matter what you may try to do to stop it, time marches steadily on. Revel in each moment, and don’t let special moments slide by. You can’t capture time. That moment, containing that unique chance, will never come again. Grasp that opportunity. Regret won’t bring the moment back. Learn from missed opportunities to know the next time and not allow the same chance to float painfully by again.

                “You were kicked off a precipice when you were born, and it’s no help to cling to the rocks falling with you.”[2] Instead, let yourself float. Revel in the cool air that surrounds you; feel the rush of vitality you get each morning as you know you are embarking on a unique adventure. 

Revel in the moments you are presented with—each is special in its own unique way. Each has value to the compilation of time that is life; take the joy of these moments and find happiness. Or, as Winnie the Pooh says, “Wonder. Dream. Be.” Life in the present is sometimes difficult, but remember to leave a way out for the future. Don’t ever stop believing in your future. Your future will one day be your present, so craft your dreams and take the path you need to achieve them, because before you know it, the ideals of your future will be the beauty of the present.

                We keep straining every day of our lives to get somewhere, to achieve—and we think it is all right to throw away our present in sacrifice to the future; yet we forget that in the future lies death and death alone. Learn to live in the present, and enjoy it, for it doesn’t matter what you do; ultimately, we are all going to the same place. And when we get there, we will lose all. We must savor life, for we only get that one chance, after all. Don’t lose track of your happiness. Ever.

                Know what your joy is and how to get there. Don’t be afraid to retreat into the clouds of heaven. Let happiness take you over sometimes, because life is too precious to spend worrying about some final destination. Stay in touch with yourself—don’t ever let your body run away from your soul. Remember that your joy will, ultimately, govern your sanity. We must stay grounded, but don’t forget to fly. Life is fleeting: soar above the clouds, taste the feel of heaven; savor life on Earth, love it. Life is the first and most important gift we will ever receive. Do things because they bring you joy, not because you think you should be doing them, or because someone tells you to do so. The only task that is necessary to the successful function of life is happiness.

             Try to laugh at least once a day. Laughter really is the best medicine. Find those people who make you laugh, and stand by them. Leave the people who make you cry. You will find enough in your life to make you cry; you don’t need others to help you along.

When you find yourself wanting to talk to someone, wanting to see him, wondering where he is every moment… then you may say, this is it. There comes the time when another’s presence is comforting—when you need to escape and this person is the place to go—your sanity, your joy. Love as though your life depends on it—because it does. A life without love is a life without color, without purpose. And don’t think you should only love people. Love the clouds, the stars, the warm summer breeze; love the snow, hot tea, new books; love life.

            It’s important to concern yourself with your own well being, to feed your heart, to cherish your soul. Do realize that not all is right in the world, but understand it is not up to you alone to fix it. You can’t control what other people do—do what you can to mend the world, but realize you can only control your own actions. The rest of the world will do as it pleases and you must let it.

            Know you and you only are the one who will shape yourself. It’s not important what you have; it’s important what you think you have—for you have whatever you believe you do. You are what you believe. If you think you can’t, you won’t be able to. If you know you can, you’ll find a way. “Get what you want if you want it, because you can get anything.”[3]  Wherever you lead, your life will follow. Keep dreaming—dreams are how we can keep our world idealistic, molding it to what we want it to be by what we want to become. Always know why you go forward, and always have a reason for living.   

Know that no matter what anyone ever does to you, no one can ever take away from you your self—your free spirit, your personality, your mind, your thought. When it seems that you have nothing, realize that to know this, you must still have something: your mind. Nurture it, love it, for it will always be there for you.

                Superman really doesn’t exist. Don’t live your life expecting to be Wonder Woman. These people are fictional superheroes, humankind’s idols, for a reason. We can’t possibly be these people; we can’t possibly be pillars of perfection. Know that you can’t be the best at everything. If you were, it wouldn’t be a special experience when you were. Admire your faults, for they make you whole. It is only by faults that we can characterize strength.

You are a sun, which means you are both the rising sun and the setting sun. Know when to rise, and when to set. Don’t be afraid to be a star in the sky. Let someone else be the sun once in a while. Stars are still filled with the exact same celestial beauty: “the sun is but a morning star,”[4] one we on Earth acknowledge specifically. This, however, doesn’t take away from the beauty of all the other stars. A lack of acknowledgement of your successes doesn’t mean you aren’t a success, just that the world isn’t revolving around you. Take pride in your successes, because your own self-recognition is all that matters in determining accomplishment.

                And just ask yourself, when you are frustrated because you don’t understand your life, when you don’t understand why other people do the things that they do, when you don’t understand why life isn’t always beautiful—just ask yourself, What if we understood the world? Then what would be left for us to do? Not understanding life is what ultimately makes it so precious, so beautiful.

                Most importantly of all, realize that I can’t tell you everything—if I could, I would, for we all wish to spare those after us the misery we have been through. But we learn from the misery, and in the future we can appreciate happiness with more vitality.

                Don’t think you have all the secrets of life locked within these few pages. Realize that the wisdom of life cannot be shared; instead, we must find out the secrets of life through mistakes and experiences which show us the best way to do things for ourselves. My truths might not be your truths. The goal of life is to live it, to experience it—not to just be there, or, as Jack London says, “the proper function of man is to live, not to exist.” Dance in beauty, cherish each moment, turn every walk you take into a walk through one of Life’s wonderlands. Life is meant to be lived.