A letter to your younger self...

[skippy66]

Use this thread to write a letter to your younger self. Write it to the person you were when you first got health anxiety. What would you say to that person now? Eg don't get so worked up about the MRI because the results are normal...

Have fun with this, looking forward to reading some of these letters.

[Sar89]

Dear asbo kid, please don't give everyone in your life such grief and heartache turns out the ones who you thought were most against you were trying to love you, you were just so damaged you couldn't see it... Don't accept that cig behind the bike shed with steph banks you will choke on the smoke everyone will laugh then it will start you onto a nasty, smelly lifelong habit ! Please settle down in school and stop getting expelled you going to need some grades because despite what you think a rich Prince Charming ain't gonna sweep you off your feet and look after you. Life's tough out there. Please for gods sake put the drugs down!!!! Don't you know how they frazzle your brain cells and leave people with mental illness? you included, your not big your not clever and you will end up overdosing quite a few times you silly, selfish girl. In the words of a song you really liked ' life's one big party when your still young.. But who's gonna have you back when it's all done' ... I will tell you who your real king charming that's right your daddy... Be kinder to him please all he ever does is try an do right by you, please stop worrying him and upsetting him. I'm sorry to tell your really good friend liam is going to die and you can't stop it. Don't hit the drugs hard and act like ur invincible you will still have to deal with it in the end... Hey it's not all doom and gloom you will have a baby called Kyla ... She will save you from the dark trap your in and she will bring you so much joy and love she will also give you that elusive sense of love an belonging you have been seeking all your life an you know what your not a bad mum either ! You are going to have so many worries and obsessions about diseases and death these will last for years infact probably will be an ongoing thing for the rest of your life...so far your still ticking even though at times you feel like your not! U didnt have cervical cancer, HIV, brain bleeds, bloodclots the abscess didnt travel to your brain! And you are going to change your life you will be drug free, inappropriate man free with a determination to go further in life... So young me please stop being an absolute crank :-)

[abi]

Dear Abi,

You are young, you have your whole life ahead. There will be some up's and down's, many good times and some bad times. Do not shy away from enjoying yourself "in case". The "in case's" often don't happen. You ARE allowed to be happy, you ARE allowed to relax and have fun. Doing those things will not mean something bad will happen.

When you are older, if you carry on like this, you will look back and regret the years, months, hours and minutes of torment YOU caused yourself through allowing your mind to wander to places it need not go.

Please be happy & appreciate everything you have.:closedeyes:

[penguin120]

Dear tiny penguin,

DO NOT LOOK UP 'EYE SPOTS' ON GOOGLE. IT WILL LEAD TO MONTHS OF DESPAIR AND ANXIETY OVER NOTHING!
Don't even think about your health, because it will worry you to effing death. :chairfall:

-older, wiser penguin

p.s. if i somehow had read this as a child, i most definitley would have looked it up anyway. ooops.

[HyPoCon]

Dear HypoCon,

From your 25 year old self, please do everything you will do I would change nothing, your life has been great, how ever when your mother dies, grieve, and do not start to google everything that plagues you

[Pipkin]

Dear Pip,

A message from your older (and hopefully wiser) self. Stop bloody worrying about everything and just enjoy life - everything's going to work out just fine.

P.S. You won't know what this is yet but the Euromillions lottery numbers for 6 Dec, 2013 (that's right, the world didn't end when you turned 40) are 1, 2, 18, 31 & 36. 7 & 10 will help too...

Pip

[Tracetgr]

Dear trace
You need to stop worrying and feeling so bad about yourself!! People do love you and you need to learn to love yourself. Stop fearing everything!! You will go through many hard times and have to be strong and there are times when you will get overcome with sadness if you let it. Remember to think positive and do things to make you feel good as you can feel good about yourself you will have two beautiful kids and have some stressful times and cope and get through it you will lose your nan but you need to feel the grieve not bottle it up and be so afraid of change. Stop living in the past and concentrate on what's good positive and important and don't turn your loving emotion into resentment and being negative so you don't feel the hurt that others can cause you as you are only hurting yourself by doing that. Stop worrying about your health don't smoke and eat properly. And please remember you are loved kind caring and a really lovely person you need to believe in yourself

Big hugs to make you feel special

[skippy66]

Keep em coming!

[jimbobrooney]

Dear JimBob

Dont ever visit Dr Google - ever, and dont buy a smart phone. There is nothing smart about it in fact, it will just case you grief and keep you online.

Instead, go for a walk , a swim , a run - something real, something that involves you being alive . Feel the power in your legs when you run, immerse yourself in the feeling of being alive when you burst through the surface of the water while swimming

If something happens, deal with it then and only then. Dont waste precious minutes which turn into hours and days analysing / researching and searching for problems that arent there.

Look your loved ones in the eye and say " i love you", hug them and smile.

Turn off the TV from time to time and read a book.

Stop complaining about the little things

Make a difference to someones life - give something back as you have sooo much.

Most of all, relax and enjoy life

[bluesparkle]

hey you !
yes you.... young bluesparkle
life is short DO NOT waste it.
do not waste time worrying and fretting, live life to the full enjoy every small thing as it goes by so very very quickly.
enjoy your kids growing up and spending time with loved ones, staying locked in your anxieties will NOT make them go away.
try to look for positives in everything.... but when having a bad day that is ok too honest we all have them but remember something really important " tomorrow is another day" get up and start afresh.
worrying about "what if" or "maybe" really isn't worth it when hurdles get in the way you WILL manage and you WILL cope.
BUT do not be ashamed of how you are, you are special and strong as it takes someone really strong to manage everyday life with anxiety/panic , be proud of who you are :-)
love "older and wiser" bluesparkle

[Freeky]

Hey younger Freeky.

I suppose this isn't a good time to call you that, since everyone always called you 'freak' for no reason in middle school. In two languages as well! How on Earth did you survive?!

All I want to say is, hold on to the strength you had then, because in two months before your 17th birthday something will happen to Louis and it'll be too late to do anything about it. This'll make you spend all of your summer googling symptoms and moping about on the sofa in tears thinking that you will die.

I don't want to upset you too much, I just want to tell you to make up for those lost moments and treasure the ones you will make before that time comes. You're only sixteen, you're still in high school, still recovering from the bullying and getting used to having friends again. I understand that everything is still a bit overwhelming but it will get better, I promise.

Just remember these three things:
1. Stop being so paranoid about everything and anything
2. The bullies haven't won, they never did and never will
3. Someday you won't be judged by your looks, personality and your drawings (yes, I said YOUR drawings!)

Anyway, this is where I leave you. Take care. :flowers:
Older Freeky

[Catherine S]

Hey there young free single and still gorgeous teenage me...
So many years have gone by and so many mistakes have been made, wrong choices mostly which led to the anxious feelings that started it all off. But you know what? If I could tell you anything now I would say please don't waste the years thinking you will die because your heart beats too quickly, or you have a pain in your chest, or your heart is flip-flopping around...it doesn't matter because your older self is still here, so you didn't die after all your fears and struggles.

But, I also want to tell you how much I admire and respect you for living your life the best way you knew how given all the fears you lived with. So I'm also very proud of you. And...you gave me 4 wonderful children over the years too, so thank you for that.

Miss you sometimes...and...
...I still believe :flowers:

[Catherine S]

A lovely thread :)