If I’d Known Then: A Letter to Myself

The Big 4-0!

This is it. It’s the week I’ve been waiting for a very long time for and it’s finally here! The week of my 40th birthday!

I’ve been waiting to turn 40 since I was 25 years old. If you ask why, I don’t have a solid answer. Maybe it’s because I didn’t want my accomplishments watered down because of my age. Maybe it was because I thought I would have won the lottery by my fourth decade. At any rate, I’ve really been waiting for this week and I am officially forty years old on May 24th.

When I turned 30, my dear friend, Hannah Horne, gave me a book called If I’d Known Then: Women in Their 20s and 30s Write Letters to Their Younger Selves. It’s a quick and fun read that was helpful to me. You’ll find famous names like Sara Blakely, Jessica Alba, and Natasha Bedingfield. I figure if they can write a letter to themselves, I can do it.

If I’d known then…

Here’s my letter to my younger self:

Dear Terri-

Life is a rollercoaster, not a hamster wheel. There’s no need to rush life, but there’s absolutely every reason to enjoy it. And please know you don’t have to do everything right NOW.

Grace will be your biggest gift to yourself. You might not understand what that means now, but as you get closer to your 30s you will and you’ll extend grace to many people you encounter. Those who make quick judgments about you, those who hurt you and those who you don’t even know. You won’t always remember to give yourself the grace humans deserve, but when you do remember, the burden that you carry will be lifted every single time.

Life might start off with the glass half empty because it helps drive you towards success. Somewhere along the way it’ll flip to being half full. You’ll call it perspective and it’ll be something that helps you solve problems, too. Half full looks good on you, girl!

You’ll go from owning dozens of black pants to owning dozens of jeans that you won’t even iron before wearing. Oh, and the destroyed ones will be your favorite. I know that you think you’re too structured for jeans with holes in them. This will really sound foreign, but you’ll learn to appreciate casual attire and will even leave your house without makeup on the weekends. You’ll get comfortable in your own skin and learn to love it.

Give yourself more free time that you’ll use to see family and friends, watch a movie or even dance. You love to dance not like the old cheer days, but a good band will always put you on your feet.

But most of all, you’ll grow into a woman who will share herself with others, not be afraid to show emotion or vulnerability. You’ll care less about your to-do list and want to have a greater impact. You still won’t have all the answers, but you won’t be frustrated if you don’t know what’s next.

Be kind to yourself. Don’t stop believing and don’t forget no one else has to get it—it only has to make sense to YOU.

Get your shine on,

Terri

The not so perfect 40th birthday photo shoot

Author’s Note: So, I’ve known I was going to turn 40 for a LONG time. That means the perfect balloon shot is in order, right? WRONG. The day of the photo shoot was so incredibly windy that these are the best of the shots before the balloons bust. I must admit, I *love* these. Life isn’t perfect but plenty of times we experience greatness and we overlook it because we desire perfection. These shots are great and that means they’re perfect for me! #MovementMakerTribe #GetYourShineOn #Talk40ToMe #HappyBirthday #ThisIs40 #TBW #052478