Don’t lose your “muchness”
People will often describe you as “airy-fairy” or free-spirited. They will say your head is in the clouds, and that you’re dreamy. Don’t let that embarrass you.
Your imagination will take you places your practicality never could imagine. It will lead you to book flights on a whim, chase goals before you know exactly how they’ll end, and say yes to opportunities that others are too afraid to take. Those decisions will become the stories you tell for years. The world has enough cynics. Don’t become one just because it seems more acceptable. Keep your sense of wonder. Keep believing impossible things can happen. Never lose your muchness.
You’re only a side character in your siblings’ lives
One day, you’ll realise that your siblings are building entire worlds outside of you. They’ll have partners, careers, and friendships that don’t include you. It will feel strange, almost like being left out of a story you thought you were central to.
It will hurt at first. But eventually you’ll understand something freeing: you’re also the main character in your own life. Their distance isn’t a rejection. It’s simply life expanding. Build your own community. Find friends who become family. The people who choose you, understand you and celebrate you won’t necessarily share your last name, but they will become part of what makes you whole.
People don’t always have good intentions
You assume that because your heart is genuine, everyone else’s is too. Unfortunately, that’s not how the world works. Some people are kind because they care. Others are kind because they want something in return.
Learn to pay attention to patterns instead of promises. Believe actions over explanations. Don’t confuse charm with character, or consistency with convenience. Being trusting is beautiful. Being discerning will protect that beauty.
Live life so fully that fear doesn’t get the final say
Move countries if you want to. Travel alone. Try the thing that scares you. Don’t wait for other people! Dine alone in that fancy restaurant you’ve always wanted to try. Go to that concert by yourself.
Years from now, you’ll realise that confidence wasn’t something you were born with. It was built every time you proved to yourself that you could survive unfamiliar places and uncertain seasons.
If you ever have children, I hope they inherit that courage. I hope they know that the world is meant to be explored, not feared, and that no dream is automatically too ambitious for them.
Enjoy the small things
You’re always chasing the next milestone. The next version of yourself. And when you get there, your first instinct is to ask, “What’s next?” Slow down. Sit with your joy before turning it into another goal.
A life isn’t only made of big moments. It’s stitched together by quiet Tuesday evenings, laughter on FaceTime calls with friends, the satisfaction of realising that, for today at least, you have enough.
Not everyone will understand you, and that’s okay
You’ll spend too much energy trying to explain yourself to people who have already decided who you are. Eventually, you’ll realise that being understood by everyone isn’t the goal. Being authentic is. The people who are meant for you won’t require you to become smaller to fit into their lives.
Keep choosing a soft, stress-free life
The world will give you reasons to become hard. Disappointments will tempt you to become suspicious. Heartbreak will tempt you to become detached. Stay open anyway. Protect your peace, set boundaries and learn from experience, but don’t let difficult people convince you that kindness is weakness. The version of you that laughs loudly, dreams recklessly and finds the good in people is worth protecting.