A letter to my inner child

Personal Reflection

This is a personal post, that explores my feelings. I share them publicly in the hope of being vulnerable. I hope that you can understand that this post was difficult to post.

A letter to my inner child

Dear Peter

I can feel how lonely you were. That you didn't even feel misunderstood, but invisible. I understand how loneliness can become a sense of sheer isolation from the rest of the world.

I'm sorry that adults didn't try harder to connect with you, that you were never encouraged to see your friends outside of school, and that it felt like your only escape from life was with your computer.

It must have been difficult when your friends would joke that your best friend was your computer.

You need to remember that it isn't your fault, that you were just a young teenager. It isn't fair for the world to expect children to help themselves: your parents, family and teachers should have done more.

It must have been difficult watching your mother be so intentional about raising your step brothers when you felt so invisible.

I want you in my life. I want to show my kids how wonderful you are. Will you be part of my family? I think you were an incredibly smart and humane child and you'd be a great influence and friend on this journey.

I want you to know that that loneliness and lack of role models helped me become the person I am today. What you suffered through resulted in me being a kind and loving human. Most importantly, it's created an energy inside of me that makes me committed to never having my kids feel how you felt. I think you'd enjoy being in my life.

Thank you for suffering and prevailing, and I hope we can be friends.

You're not alone any more, I'm here for you — and I love you.

Peter

self improvement