29.

Dear you,

Congratulations on getting to twenty-nine. You’ve come further than you’ve possibly imagined yourself to grow. The years have perhaps been unkind, but you have finally found yourself, in a space you have learned to call home. You have found your community and people after numerous failed starts. You have learned to love the space you find yourself in, both through the good, and the not so good. You love genuinely, and authentically, still even though it used to hurt, and still does from time to time.

Trust yourself in the new spaces, and be not afraid of the journey to come. Celebrate the spaces that you no longer inhabit, cause they will always be with you. The friends you no longer speak to, remind you that life is less about the destination, and more about the journey. The road may be long and winding, but gratitude continues to find you in your quiet places. Do not stop searching for the wonder, and the quiet joy that comes from connecting to your authentic self. Do not sell yourself short the way you used to, or deny yourself happiness like you once believed yourself undeserving.

Continue to grow in the unfamiliar and comfortable. You have chased discomfort for so long, to find rest in the now. Wrestle in the uncertain knowing that He knows better more than you ever will. Understand that there will always be a time and space for everything, and that there is no perfect season, only courage to face the pruning and gratitude for the pressing.

You have come closer to you than you have ever been before, and authenticity has always been your marker. Continue to step into those spaces. Be less afraid of what it means to hold the heavy again. Remember that your best is enough, and that it is just enough to be. No one has all the answers. Control is futile. Listen humbly, and grow humility. Never forget how much you have fought for your joy. Don’t let the world get to you.

Remember to just be.

Love,

Me.