What Would You Say to Your Younger Self?

If you could sit beside your younger self today, what would you say?

Would you tell them that they are loved?

Would you take their hand and reassure them that they are going to be okay?

Would you tell them they don’t have to be perfect to be worthy?

Perhaps you would say:

“Look after yourself.

I love you.

I’m here.

I’ll hold your hand.

You are worthy.

You are more valuable than you will ever realise.”

Sometimes, when we look back at our younger selves, we see things differently. We understand now what they couldn’t possibly have known then. We recognise the moments when they needed reassurance, encouragement, safety or simply someone to say, “You’re doing the best you can.”

And while we cannot change the past, we can change the way we relate to it.

Through hypnotherapy and gentle inner-child work, we can begin to reconnect with those younger parts of ourselves with compassion rather than criticism.

Instead of asking, “Why did I do that?” we can begin asking, “What did I need then?”

Instead of judging ourselves for the ways we coped, we can acknowledge that we were learning, growing and trying to navigate life with the resources we had at the time.

And perhaps one of the most healing things we can do is to become the voice we needed to hear.

The voice that says:

You are safe now.

You are allowed to rest.

You don't have to earn love.

You matter.

Your feelings matter.

You are worthy of kindness.

I’m not leaving you.

I’ve got you.

Imagine what might begin to change when you stop fighting with yourself and start standing beside yourself.

You don't have to go back and rescue the child you once were. You can begin by loving the person they became.

Look after yourself. Hold your own hand. Speak gently to yourself. Because you are worth far more than you may ever have imagined.