It’s turned into a norm to find posts or videos with someone writing a ‘letter’ to their younger selves with words of advice and narratives based on the experiences they had after their youth. It always for nostalgia and a look back at how far one has come from past difficulties that once consumed every single thing, all while inspiring and encouraging an audience. I can only imagine that if I had written a letter like that more than a year ago, it would have been rather harsh. I’ve spent most of my life being ridiculously hard on myself and my previous decisions that I thought a slight change of positvity was in order.
This is a really hard to write, it’s very difficult for me to flatter myself in general, writing an open letter of appreciation to myself is nothing but heavy on me. I am scared this will come of as me being excessively boastful and big-headed although that is not my intention at all. I simply hope this will all lead up to my ultimate goal, liking my decisions and self more. So, here it goes:
Dear Basant,
I am so thankful to you for doing everything you’ve done to this day. Though there have been times where you doubted yourself and your actions, you stuck it out with your head held up high.
Thank you for always maintaining a close curiosity to the world and your surroundings. You grew up in a pretty tame place with not much going on, but your imagination continuously ran wild with possibility and you were always scheming how you wanted the future to turn out. As I grow older, a piece of this persistently remains behind, lingering forever and further changing into aspiration. You always put up a brave front even though your anxiety gave you a hard time, you never let that fully take away from you experiencing what your mind wandered to.
However, you did not just dwell in your dreams, you worked with constant dedication to what you were passionate about at the time. You definitely performed much better than you gave yourself credit and looking back, plenty of the people around you appreciated it.
You’re also so very kind, always choosing to give people the benefit of the doubt automatically and without much thought of the matter. It’s amazing the amount of effort and energy you put into just thinking of others and putting them first. I don’t know how you also managed this but you somehow also didn’t pay much mind to what people perceived you as, you did what you were most comfortable with. I look at pictures of you, and remember how you had crocs of every bright color for every outfit imaginable, with a very embarrassed smile but a smile nonetheless. Your humor still has me in tears to this day with your memories and jokes.
I do believe that everything you once thought was unpleasant has lead up to the bigger picture that is now your present. I thank you so much for all your commitment, goodwill, and your hard working nature.
Love your past. What do you thank your younger self for?
Loved this post. I have gone through a lot over the years, but I also love myself for some of the questionable choices I’ve made since they led me to this wonderful life I’m living. Amazing post, keep up the good work!
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Thank you so much, I’m so glad you’ve realized this too, it’s really very freeing!
I hope you have a lovely day ahead of you, thank you for taking time to leave your thoughts!
Basant She
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Beautiful post Basant, and very inspiring too! I love to hear about how much you try to put other people first and how you live life as fully as you can in spite of your anxiety.
If I had to thank my past self for something, I think it would be for choosing not to give up even when life seemed too hard to bear and for always believing in love. It must have made me stronger.
Thanks for sharing,
Love,
Sacha
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Thank you so much! If you’re interested in my anxiety do check out my posts titled: “A Guide to Decreasing Your Anxiety” here – https://thoughtsofasociallyanxiousextrovert.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/a-guide-to-decreasing-your-anxiety-part-1/
I talk about my random acts of kindness in the past as well as my anxiety in general 🙂
I’m glad you’re looking towards your past as it making you stronger now, that’s spectacular 🙂
Thank you for your comment and I hope you have a lovely day ahead of you!
Basant She
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I wish you the very same!
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Your idea of thanking your younger self is purely awesome. Personally, looking back, I would thank my younger self for
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The resilience and will portrayed through each huddle I overcame.
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Thank you so much for the follow and wonderful comment. I’m glad you look back at your experiences with a smile because the determination you earned from them!
I hope you have a lovely day ahead of you,
Basant She
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Hallo, so you seem like someone who has a lot of understanding about life……so I wanted to know how you handle the down moments
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Thank you! My down moments are mostly anxiety related and I have a guide on how I handle that here: https://thoughtsofasociallyanxiousextrovert.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/a-guide-to-decreasing-your-anxiety-part-1/
My blog in general has been a form of therapy to what I’m experiencing, you’ll find a lot of positivity here and there from what I was feeling a the time 🙂 I wish you luck and I hope you have a lovely day ahead of you!
Basant She
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Awesome.. Thanks a lot am sure I will learn a lot.. Have a lovely day too
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It’s also hard for me to write things like this because I feel boastful. But I’ve learned that loving yourself is an important thing. 🙂
storitorigrace.blogspot.com
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Preach!
Basant She
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I enjoyed this post. I often wish I could write a letter to my younger self, but I’m not sure I could very kind 🙂
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I think its important to be kind when they helped lead you to who you are today 🙂 Thanks for reading!
Basant She
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I thank my younger self for imagination.
Btw I finally noticed your title! Extroverted with social anxiety? That’s me in any new setting!
Thanks for sharing!
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Glad you relate! That makes me super happy~ Thank you for reading and I hope you have a lovely rest of the day
Basant She
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