Dear 16 year old me...

You at Western University pretending to study ;)

Ugh, times must be tough. I remember those days and it felt like day after day you did not belong, people were mean, mornings sucked and it felt like a significant effort to maintain friendships. Thinking back on it high school felt like it sucked, I cannot lie. TBH in some ways, I look back and I still think it did. University was great though and the first couple years of your career, then things got hard.

BUT things get better and theres so many lessons to learn about life from this experience.

At this point, you're 16 years old. Two years away from graduation. You can start getting excited now because so many fun years are ahead of you. Next year, you will apply to attend many universities, and will get accepted to all of them - congrats on your hard work. Keep working hard though. I know school is boring and you wish you were challenged more and your wish will come true. You will feel like you should stop going to school and fast track to your first year of university but dad will keep you from making this poor decision. In fact, he will motivate you by incentivizing you to get good grades with a reward trip to China (Spoiler alert: It worked! and you loved it).

When you're 16, you will have your first boyfriend too. He will be kind to you. You will have fun but realize something is wrong. You won't be able to figure it out at first, but that is ok, you are still young. Mom will help you through it, and will mention that the problem is that he lacks ambition. The truth is she was right and the relationship won't last too long, but that is ok you will realize quickly that he was not the one for you and you were lucky to not have your heart broken. Later you will find someone who you believed to be the one. It felt like you were a princess in a movie but that ended horribly and painfully. Heart break is the worst thing ever but don't let it stop you.

As for your friends, you have lots of them (I think 22 girls?). It is ok that you feel like you don't fit in. I remember feeling that way. I remember not liking the way some of the girls treated others. I remember having interests outside of the group - people, hobbies, etc. I know you don't always stand up for others and you feel lost about what you can do. It is ok. Here is some advice though, just do it. Do what you like to do and truthfully enjoy it because at 28 years old you aren't friends with any of those girls anymore. My advice here? Don't worry about what others think. People will be who they are and that is ok. Just remember that way you treat others is a reflection of you, not of the other person. Be kind. Be curious. Friends will come and go, and that is ok. There doesn't need to be a fight or a falling out. Sometimes people just drift. Bullies will be bullies and later in life bullies are usually called narcissists. The best way to handle these people is to ignore them. It genuinely drives them crazy.

Are you working at Sportchek yet? If not, you will love this job. It will be fun, flexible and you will have a taste of a healthy, properly ran workplace. Remember this. It becomes important as you enter your 20s and you start your career. When it comes to career, it is best to know your strengths. You like to talk, you like sharing your opinions, you like working and supporting others, and you like to be social. Use this to your advantage and do not ever let someone tell you it is a weakness. People will be both intimidated and fascinated by you during your career. You end up running a sales and marketing department by the age of 24 so never look back. You are skilled and perfect the way you are.

Killing it earlier in your career in Dubai. Yes, you get comments on your style. No, you don't care if it doesn't fit into the "typical workwear" vibe.

As for the social pressures you experience at 16, don't have the drink and don't go to the party. Yes, it is fun, but seriously there are better things to do that will set you up for huge opportunities later on. Instead, go online, network, learn, exercise, learn to cook (you end up liking this one a lot) and seek out people who will lift each other up. This will get you far in life. Remember, you are the sum of the five closest people in your life. Also, don't let boys distract you. You ended up taking this one pretty well (not always but you did ok). Focus on school, career and really try to build something of yourself. Reflect on your values and what matters most to you. Write them down and say no to anything that doesn't align with them. This will save you lots of tears and stress in life.

Never stop learning. For you education did not stop after high school. You went to Western University and had a blast. No seriously, a BLAST. You met some of the best people here and found girls who are supportive and that you can rely on. You also had to learn to grow up quick and take care of yourself. Having the flu and trying to find your own food and do you own laundry is A LOT harder than it looks. I mean c'mon who wants to be going to the residence cafeteria in between puking sessions to get half baked mac and cheese while in your last pair of underwear. You did it, and guess what? Never did it again because you learned to plan ahead (amongst many other lessons). Mom made this look easy growing up and if you ask her now she will say that university taught you so many more lessons that what was written in a textbook or said in a lecture.

While at Western you will also have a huge fight with your best friend from childhood. This will be very tough. You will feel like crap and get shivers from the anxiety. This is truthfully the 'walking on eggshells feeling'. This is the first time you will have to sit down and have a real talk with a friend. You handle this well and with kindness. Spoiler alert - you are still friends and your friendship got stronger than ever. It was hella tough though. How did you get through it you may ask? Well, you learned listening is sometimes more important than talking. You listened and you used "I feel" statements to avoid accusatory language. After three hours, you began a new chapter in the friendship. The lesson here? Don't bottle things up. Talk to someone about it and talk it through thoroughly. Even if it doesn't go as planned, the other side following the conversation always feels better than the state of anxiety you were living through.

Into your early 20s, you graduate with a degree in Psychology. In your third year of university, you wrote the LSAT and decided that being a lawyer was not the career you want. You were devastated, heartbroken but you made it. You lived by yourself and decided you will figure it out. You worked out everyday (after your crappy summer job) and were in the best shape EVER but emotionally you were crushed. You decided you needed a path and decided to get a Masters degree. Things worked out and within two years you were absolutely killing it in sales. If I had to give advice here, it is follow your heart. Don't let anyone choose your path or take away your voice. You will come to know that you are special in your own way. Remember that nobody in life has it all figured out (and it is nobodies job but your own to figure out your path). I know at 16 you say "when I am an adult I will have everything I want and dreamed of" and in some ways you will but the confusion does not go away, it just changes clothes. You will become very spiritual and this helps here. You are intuitive and know best. Trust your gut and only make decisions when you are ready.

Enjoying the pool in the Moroccan desert. This is the break you should have taken 2 years earlier. You travelled alone and didn't regret it a single bit.

As you are four years into your career, your body gave you warnings that it was shutting down. You needed to focus on yourself and you ignored it. You need to take care of yourself. Sleep. Eat. Drink water. Enjoy time off. This may sound dumb and obvious now but you are ambitious and you will chase success. Don't ever sacrifice your health for anything. You cannot buy time or health. You always liked going to the gym but somewhere you began hating it. You were tired, stressed and made excuses. The excuses were not because you wanted to but because you seriously couldn't take another thing on your plate physically, emotionally or mentally. If I could give one piece of advice that is currently impacting you, it is this: Don't use time as an excuse. If you don't have time then you do not have your priorities straight. This starts with your health but continues with people and hobbies you care about. Get your priorities straight.

As a final note, don't be afraid to say yes and don't be afraid to say no when required. Live to your fullest extent. Work hard, take care of yourself and be kind. At some point (I have no idea when this started) people will start telling you that you are funny. You won't believe it, but you will soon realize you are funny, witty and honestly weird AF. You will come to realize weird is just another word for unique and unique is interesting. At least this is what you will tell yourself. You have lots of friends and family who love you so it cannot be that bad right?

Anyways, keep your head up and be confident. You got this (most of the time).

xo your future self