Happy Birthday!

Dear Birthday Girl/Boy,

Today is your birthday!! Birthdays are weird because when you think about growing up and growing older you imagine yourself getting taller, skin clearing, and becoming more beautiful automatically. But you don't. You just live your life until one day you take a good look at yourself in the mirror and realize that maybe your legs are little longer, you have freckles on your nose, your cheeks are a little more rosy, your waist and hips are filling out, and you're an actual person now. Before you were just someone's kid, a student, a sibling, and you had no worries because you knew your course for the next 10 years. But now you make choices, and the choices you make have consequences more than just sitting in the corner facing the wall and now you meet people and they know you as you. As the person that you presented to them, that was carefully shaped by experiences and the people you knew but now with a little dash of independence. With an extra kick of things you figured out for yourself. Other people still affect your character but now you have to let them. You have to be open to learning from them and considering their ideas and opinions without disregarding your own. And that is so so important, because you should always be open to hearing what others have to say. It teaches you how to use your moral compass, because anyone can say something with confidence and it's easy to believe in what they're saying, but really you just believe in the way they said it. Really think about the things you hear and say, and when you figure it out, be passionate and say what you mean with conviction. But make sure what you're saying will make the world better. Think about it like this, what would the world be like if everyone followed this advice? Don't just say "it would be better." Think about it in regards to the happiness and well-being of humanity and don't be afraid to change your mind.

Love,
Clara