Brad Paisley totally sang this song title and did it wonderfully. I don’t know if you have heard it, but you should look it up. It has, for several years now, been a song I have enjoyed. Today it came up on Spotify and I had to listen to it and just giggle at the words.

But this time – it hit me. What if I wrote a letter to me? What would I say to my teenage self, knowing now what I didn’t know then?

If I could write a letter to me – here is what I would make sure teen Jordan knew:

Loosen up. All those scholarships you received for academic accolades were great, but you will switch schools and lose them – so while studying and doing your work is important – worrying about a 99 versus a 95 on a test really isn’t worth the time. You are smart. A test score or class rank doesn’t prove otherwise. And you will do well in college. Heck, you’ll even get a Master’s! Just have some fun in school and with friends.

Stop comparing yourself. I know what you’re doing. You are looking at the pants size, the size of the dress, the hair, the makeup – and you are constantly thinking you don’t measure up to them. You are picking every little flaw you see in yourself and you are tearing yourself apart. But you don’t need to. You are going to learn very quickly that outside the walls of that little town – there’s a huge world out there with great people of all shapes and sizes and versions of beauty and you’re going to fit right in because no one is perfect and no one is the same. And you’re going to learn that beauty only carries you so far, but compassion and love and how you treat people is what really matters anyway.

You will see heartache. Yes – dear girl. No matter how hard you try – you will experience heartbreak and it will really, really hurt. It will take you a long time to recover, but don’t worry – you will and you will come out stronger on the other side. You will learn valuable life lessons, and you will be able to pass those down as the years come.

You will see happiness. It will first be wrapped in white – and a little Marine Corps red and yellow. It will be the first best day of your life – and it will be wonderful. Then it will be wrapped in pink, and again in blue. And your thoughts about what matters in the world will change. You will then know how much love you have in your heart. You will then know how much you can care for someone else. You will then know – that all of the heartache, tears, triumphs, fears – were all worth it to get you to this point. That you wouldn’t be in the place you are now if not for those events.

If I could write that letter to me…..