I know you are struggling right now. Your skin is splotchy, no thanks to your sworn nemesis: acne. You feel pudgy and insecure about your weight. Those two factors combined make you think you’re unwanted, overlooked, and unattractive, all of which are completely untrue.

Most importantly, you’ve just entered college not too long ago and have asked yourself the question plaguing every 19-year-old’s mind, "What on earth am I going to do with my life?"

After all, your concern is valid - you just did a 180 from Accounting to Comms, and had received quite a bit of grief about it from those around you. Yet, you are convinced in your heart of hearts that you’ve done the right thing by following your dreams.

You are not wrong.

It will take a few hard, but character-building years. Eventually, you'd get the hang of things and embrace your God-given gifts. You will find your purpose. I’m writing to you to offer you hope and encouragement; to tell you, aged 19, to be courageous.

Your complexion will sort itself out. Later is better than never. You will endure many fad diets, including a no-carb phase after a painful break-up.

This is what I wish you’d know sooner - prim, proper, and perfect are overrated. Embrace your imperfections, freely and gloriously.

Celebrate what you’ve got, all of it - cellulite, scars, the occasional breakout, and even your thigh gap-less thighs. Don't strive to be beautiful. Instead, be an eternity of other things - be kind, be intelligent, be witty, be adventurous.

You can’t please everyone. So, learn to sacrifice for what you want. Otherwise, what you want will be the sacrifice.

You will get the chance to work as a copywriter in Leo Burnett. Yes, that Leo Burnett. You will work insane amount of hours, endure nights without sleep, and unlearn everything you thought you knew about writing. It will probably be your toughest challenge yet, but it’ll also be the most valuable because of what you’ll learn and who you’ll meet. 

Also, remember how you wanted your own column, growing up? Well, you got what you wished for, only… it’s miles better.

Never let any of it get to your head. It is just the beginning. Be willing to work your butt off, go the extra mile, but also take a leap of faith when you need to.

Get back up again, better than before, every time you hit a bump. Celebrating your strengths is as important as addressing your weaknesses. Remember, the only work worth doing is one you’ll be proud of. 

Love is intricate. You will experience it - the deep, spine-tingling, butterflies-in-your-belly, toe-curling kind - at its purest and rawest. You will also discover loss - the aching sorrow, the relentless pain, the gripping fear of tomorrow - in its entirety and depth. You need one to appreciate the other.

As you will soon realise, the break-ups will hurt, but you’ll know, deep down, they are necessary.

When it comes to working out the delicate balance between being in different continents - battling different time zones - and soaring, but demanding careers, you will later learn that it is easier in theory than in real life.

Love is not to be rushed. That list you have in your journal about your dream guy and getting married at 25? Chuck it. My 39-year-old self would probably say the same thing to me, as I’m telling you now - enjoy yourself a little more.

Your childhood dream of becoming a globetrotter will happen sooner than you think. You will travel to various parts of South East Asia and fall in love with its unique beauty on your first job. You will then embark on your first solo trip at age 27, return with a severe case of wanderlust, and never quite recover from it.

The following year, you will go on to cuddle baby elephants and waddle in a mud bath in Northern Thailand. That same year, you will also tick off Czech Republic from your travel bucket list.

Please, I implore you, keep a journal for your gallivanting adventures. There will be so many amazing moments.

----------

I know how you feel right now. You must think everything I’ve told you seems so far-fetched; distant, unattainable, maybe even impossible. 

Let me tell you this - dreams really do come true. Don't give up just yet. Time has a funny way of sorting things out, and as I’m learning every day, His timing is impeccable.

Happy Birthday, 19-Year-Old Me!

The future ahead of you is rather spectacular. Trust me, I’m living it.