Letter to my younger self

Dear young Lauren 

I know things are tough for you now, being an adolescent is definately one of the more challenging life phases we’ll go through, but I  can absolutely 100% guarantee that we’re going to be ok. Here are some little nuggets of hope for you..

When we were in our mid teens, our PE teacher kept entering us into the inter schools cross country trials even though we hated every single step because she saw great potential, not because she had it in for us. This will scar is for years but we come good in the end.

The sporty girl teasing and laughing at us about our running style (you know exactly who I mean).. in about 20 years we’re going to bump into her at the gym and she’ll be unhealthy, depressed and hugely overweight. We won’t laugh back at her though, because we’re better than that.

It’s ok to be at the back.. and no, this is not how we’re going to die today. One day we’ll become an ultra marathon runner where the race is nothing to do with pace but going the distance... and that we can do! Hang out at the back, it’s going to be fine.

Tell Mum about our unhealthy relationship with food now! She’ll save us sooner. Binging and purging now is going to shape the way we look at food for the decades to come. It’s not ok to starve ourselves and use lunch money for cigarettes to surpress our appetite. But please know that it won’t always be like this, we win in the end!

One day in the future we’re going to start up a women’s running group and it’ll fast become one of the biggest groups in the country and win awards - that seems so crazy right? We hate running!! So don’t worry too much that we’re not doing so great in school. There’s more to life than algebra!

So hang in there little Loz, life gets really good as you get older, I promise you that. What I can also tell you is that there are more difficult times to come, but don’t worry, as we grow older we also grow stronger, both mentally and physically. We will learn to surround ourselves with a strong and positive support network by way of family and friends. We’ll never be alone.

​I’m signing off now, I can’t give it all away because we like surprises, right? Furthermore, I can only tell you what I know for the first 39 years of our life, there’s more to come which I don’t know about yet!

​Be kind to yourself little Lauren, trust your instinct and don’t get too drawn in by the wrong crowds. 

Take it easy ​

Older Lauren ​

What would you tell your younger self if you had the chance?