You're Okay, Kid

 Dear 11-Year-Old Me,

First, hear this and remember. You will be fine and happy and have so much more than you could have ever dreamed. That’s the end. This, however, is still near the beginning, which means you’ll need to muddle through some stuff before you get there. 

Don’t panic. This stuff I mention is honestly, truly, SO minor in the larger scheme of things. In the moment, your experiences will seem unfair, uncomfortable and will hurt emotionally. Also, once, physically...

You’ll be sitting in RG’s room joking about something and, out of the clear blue, she will slap you across the face. In that moment – to be a sport, save face, hold onto your dignity, prove you don’t break that easily, or something – you’ll find the strength to continue laughing with her, but OMG. That slap stings. So does the realization that she’s suddenly not the friend you want. Deep breaths, though. You have months to prepare for that. 

You only have weeks, though, to prepare for this. Right after Labor Day, you’ll start a new school where, last year, the teachers were forced to do something about the mean-girl issues. You’re about to step into that lioness’s den, and it won’t be pretty. 

Again, don’t panic. In just a year, better times will start rolling toward you. Soon after, they’ll stream in so fast and hard that you’ll be swept to a new world where you’ll have all the friends and family you need as constant and beautiful reminders of the fun, the funny, the pithy, and the poignant.

All that goodness will start pushing aside those harder times, the ones you’ve wanted to block from your mind. But please hold onto them. Please, remember how it feels to seem so alone and unsure and utterly mystified by the way life works. Those memories will provide so much fodder for your next chapter... 
... literally. 

When you start that next chapter – as in writing-a-book next chapter – you’ll come to find out that the hardest thing for you to do is putting your characters into messy, dark, and utterly impossible situations. Maybe it’s because it dredges up some of those old hurts. But remember...
You survived only to come out stronger.
Your characters will, too.

Dear 11-Year-Old Me, 
You’re off to a great start. Hold fast to your optimism. Understand how lucky you are to have such a solid foundation that will keep you steady through everything. Mostly, just keep being you.

With love and too many hugs, 
Older, Wiser Me

The award-winning author of The Gollywhopper Games series and The Seventh Level, Jody Feldman has so much more to tell her 11-year-old self, but it turns out she did okay on her own.