If you ever start doubting yourself, remember 18-year-old you.

If you ever start doubting yourself, remember 18-year-old you.

Because 18-year-old you had no clue how much you were going to survive.
How much you were going to figure out.
How many times you were going to start over and still build something good.

She didn’t know you’d learn how to advocate for yourself.
How to make money. How to make a home. How to choose better.
How to love people without disappearing inside them.
How to say “no” without a 12-paragraph explanation.
How to keep going even when you were tired.

And I know your brain loves to immediately go:
“Yeah but I’m not where I should be.”
According to who?? A timeline you made up while spiraling??

Try this instead:
Picture 18-year-old you sitting across from you at a table.
Tell her what your life looks like now.
Tell her what you’ve built. What you’ve learned. The things you’ve healed. The way you’ve grown.
She would not critique you.
She would look at you like you’re a miracle.

So when doubt starts getting loud, let perspective get louder.
Not because you’re done growing.
But because you’re allowed to be proud while you’re still becoming.
Let that be enough.