I'm not sure how much I believe in fortune telling or being able to predict the future, but I want to try and give you a glimpse of yours. People always say that it's much easier to remember all the bad things in life rather than the good. Well you're 16 now and have already seen enough bad things to last you a lifetime. I know bad things are never easy, but they mould us and make us stronger, remember that.2
Right now you are about to leave school, you are in your final year and have just found out you have been accepted into college. This is where your dreams for the future begin. The guy you are with just now, he probably isn't the one for you. I know that sounds hard to believe after a year of being together, but it's just you learning what relationships are all about. It's your time to have fun after being through so many hardships. The relationship is serving a purpose: it's to let you grow up, it's to let you learn about love and having fun. Just don't be too sad if it doesn't last forever, and try to see the lessons it taught you.3
You are hoping to have a year at college and then go to university when you are 18. I have a really good feeling that you will be accepted, because you are a bright and intelligent girl. It's going to be a whole new world, living in a city and away from home. I'm sure you will meet many new friends there and share lots of experiences together. Your university years will be some of the best years of your life.4
A man will come into your life when you are not yet finished university and try and persuade you away from it. You will face a tough choice between your heart and your head. I cannot predict which you will follow, only you can do that at the time. What I can say is that with determination; even if you leave your studies for a while; helping people is in your blood. Eventually you will return to them if you want it enough and you will graduate, even if it is a few years later than your classmates. Don't worry, everything will work out whichever path you choose.5
Over the next ten years you will face a lot of new experiences. You will meet some wonderful people, and some less so. Try and be observant and listen to your heart. If you follow your instincts then you will be OK. Life is all about learning and trying to make the best of what you have. People will come into your life who you let slip too easily, these people might have been good for you. Others, you will let stay around for too long, when they have no good intentions towards you. Just try and follow your instincts. 6
At the age of 24, eight years from now, you are going to face one of the hardest moments of your life. I am not going to lie to you, it is going to test you to your limits. It is going to be heartbreaking and at times you will feel like giving in. But you won't because you are stronger than that. The life you live from now until then will make you more able to deal with stress, think of all these little problems you face just now as ones which are preparing you for the biggest of all. I know they seem like they are major at the moment, but they aren't. You will be able to look back in ten years from now and realise that the dilemmas which seem huge at the moment, are just tiny dots in the bigger picture.7
But you will get through it. Remember this.8
Some people are born lucky and some unlucky. Some are fortunate whilst some are unfortunate. There are a lot of things which you can control but ultimately there are others which you can't. Sometimes the hardest things to accept are those which are out of your control. Sometimes things will happen which are not your fault and learning to realise that will be a big important lesson for you. In the next ten years you will realise that sometimes you have to just let go, because holding on will only lengthen your pain.9
I know this all sounds very negative so lets look at the flip side. There are going to be many positive events over the next ten years as well. Even if you choose to take the longer path, you will graduate, I know you will because I believe in you! You will have many happy moments of feeling in love and you may even receive a marriage proposal! You will grow so much closer to your family and all this teenage angst you feel right now will pass. You will even choose to spend time with your parents and don't roll your eyes at that suggestion! You will learn to drive, go to festivals, find a real love for music and reading. You might even start writing again one day! You will travel and see the world, you will experience new cultures and ways of thinking. In many ways, your world will open to see further than you think is possible right now.10
Sometimes your life will feel like a boomerang. There will be a lot of times ahead where just as you start to find happiness, the boomerang will come back to you and leave you feeling sad and hopeless. Sometimes you will feel like you are stuck in a groundhog day and struggle to carry on. But you will carry on, through the tough times, and you will hold your head high. Never be afraid to ask for help, or accept help when it is offered. That help will guide you back to being you and instill hope back into you when it is lacking. 11
The next ten years will be hard work, I can't lie to you. But there will be achievements along the way and they will keep you motivated. In ten years time you may not have all that you dream of just now but you will still be here. I don't want to give away too many of your future secrets but I can promise you that in ten years time you will be doing a job that you adore. You will also have some little furry friends and at times they will give you the unconditional love to soften life's hard blows.12
Just remember these words: never give up, be kind to yourself, life is all about learning and growing and you will definitely do both over these next ten years that pass.13
Try and love yourself even when you struggle to find things to love, it will be believing in yourself even when others do not, that will shape you as a person.14
Now, go and enjoy the next ten years! And when you reach the ripe old age of 26 read this letter again. It will all make sense to you in 2009, I promise.15
From,16
Your future self
Gold trophy winner
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