A letter to my daughter
Sunday was the International Day of the Girl Child. Today we’re thinking about our present and future daughters, and what we would tell them.
My child,
As I look at you sleeping peacefully, I am overwhelmed with who you are. You are an amazing person. Every day you wake up you need to remind yourself that you are intelligent, talented, beautiful and unstoppable. It remains a fact, when the days are great, and when they are grey.
The world is fortunate to have you as one of the billions of people it holds. You see, we are all put on earth for a purpose. Most of the time we don’t actually know what it is. The fun of life is trying everything you can get your hands on (that is healthy and positive) to discover what it is. And you have something the world will be inspired, amazed, grateful and desperately waiting for!
Don’t get frustrated and give up when something doesn’t make sense or doesn’t work out. Life is like one giant jigsaw puzzle with tonnes of moving pieces. Some pieces are places, others are people, some are experiences, some are new skills, and some are even random thoughts. It’s all about trying to piece these things together.
Never forget to laugh at yourself. You will always make mistakes and fall on your bottom from time to time, literally and figuratively. Take it in stride, you only live once (you see what I did there?), you don’t always have to be too serious about everything. 🙂
Explore, travel the world, meet people, eat foods you don’t eat at home, learn languages which open you up to the beauty of human diversity. When you open yourself up through extensive human interaction, you tap into a deeper part of the beauty of humanity. You break barriers of race, class and status which exist to limit us through fear.
Don’t let anyone define you. That includes me, your Mama. Your name, your age, your race, your income, your sex or even who you love, is just a small fraction of you. You define who you are. And never, ever apologise for who you are!
Never forget where you come from. As I always tell you, ‘he who abandons his traditions is a slave’. Always remember your roots; they are the foundation from which you blossom.
As you explore this big jigsaw puzzle of life, you will find and create your path and purpose and at times it may not always make sense to everyone around you, even those who love you. And that’s ok. If it makes sense to you, those who love you will get round to supporting and understanding you. If they don’t all support you, that’s also ok. Why That brings me to another lesson.
As the jigsaw puzzle pieces of your life move, so does the community you create. There are those who will be in your life for seasons, some long, some short. Then there are those who will be with you for a lifetime. Those who will be with you for a lifetime are the ones you count on, no matter how they came into your life; as Mum, Dad, your sister, brother, cousin, school mate, or dance partner. It’s you who decides what they mean to you as your family and support system.
As you wake on this brand new day, I need you to take it by the horns and show it what real intelligent, talented, beautiful and unstoppable young girls can do.
With Love,
Mama
Do you have a daughter? What is the one thing you tell her to never forget? What do you wish you had been told by your parents?