Day 45: A Letter to Yourself a Year Ago

Dear Melanie:
This year won't be a great one; I wish I could prepare you. Your friends will suffer hearbreaking losses, your health will be less than ideal, your vacations will all turn out much worse than expected. The Spring you're loving so much will not be back for a very long time. There won't be enough time, energy or money for all you'd like to do. There will always be too much or too little work. Family will feel very far away. It's going to be a long year.

Fortunately, I can't tell you all of that. You'll just have to experience it. And if you were caught up in what a long year it's going to be, you might miss all the things you'll enjoy. So go ahead and be optimistic. You will lose all that weight. Scout will learn to walk, if not as soon as you'd like. Your friends will still be wonderful and some of them will have good news to share. As with anything difficult, you will learn and grow. There will be beautiful days and beautiful moments and a lot of smiles amid the tears. So, enjoy those and tell yourself you're having a good year. It might help convince me that I've had one too.

All my best,
Melanie