Look, I know you’re not where you want to be. Not yet. And I know it doesn’t even come anywhere close to the dreams adults filled our heads with when we were little children. When they made us hope we would all go to the moon or be movie stars but gave us absolutely no indication how we were to get there. Let alone the same perks that the born-rich kids had, like money and family connections.
I know your current adult life isn’t your dream. I get that.
But I’m so damn proud of you. You don’t even know. I’m proud of all the little changes you’ve made for the better. I’m proud that you didn’t give up. Not even when it got dark. And trust me — it’s been pretty freaking dark the past few years, what with the global pandemic and all.
Those little changes you made for the better, they are so huge! And I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but the road to where you want to go — the realistic dream that you’ve chosen for yourself now that you’ve had the chance to live in the world, not the phantom one we were sold as our future as children — you’re on it! You’re on your way.
I know sometimes it seems like you’ll never get there. But that’s the funny thing about getting somewhere. When you’re walking a few miles, you don’t take one giant step — our legs don’t go that far in a single stride.
No, instead, you take a lot of little steps. (Or bigger steps, I suppose, if you’re taller than I am. I am not terribly tall.) You take enough steps that an individual step doesn’t typically matter to you, unless something truly dramatic happens — like stepping in a hole and twisting your ankle.
But for the most part, each individual step is no big deal. Nothing to be proud of.
But over here, watching you move toward your goal, watching you take one step after another, I’m so damn proud of you. I know you’re going to make it. I know you don’t believe it yet. But I’m already planning the celebration that I’m going to throw you when you do.