Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.

Things may be hard right now. You are questioning a lot of things about yourself and the life you have been leading. You are doing everything you can to be someone that you can be proud of.

You are taking a big risk this year to publish something that you have been working on for a long time. The fear is there and it is palpable. I hope this will lead to something great for you. That you will be able to move forward and create more in the future. I am so proud that you have made it to this point. Hopefully all this nervousness and anxiety has paid off for you. Even if it did not. You still tried.

The story of your life is trying. More often than not you have failed in your own eyes. It is okay to fail as at least you put yourself out there. If you did not try, you could not even fail. You would be living with the unknown and we both know how poorly you handle that. At least one way or another, you can move forward. Either give up the writing dream and do something more practical or find success at what you enjoy doing.

I hope that you adopted again. I know the first adoption did not pan out, but the odds were stacked against you. Between all the lies, the scrutiny, the trauma, and the drama, it was always going to be extremely difficult for it to turn out positively. The girls may come back someday when they realize their fantasies are just that. Only time will tell. I hope you find someone who will return all the love you have to give and that you can finally experience the joy of watching them move on to the next stage of life after all your hard work and sacrifice.

I hope you and your partner take time to yourselves right now and manage to salvage your relationship. That you two can finally do the traveling you have always wanted to enjoy together. Hopefully, you both have finally made large strides in taking care of your physical health as well in order to spend more time together at this advanced age. You two have been through so much together. I hope it works out for you both.

It is always easy for you to remember the bad and to dwell on your doubts and perceived mistakes. I hope you learned to treat yourself better and to be able to share yourself with close friends again. You deserve to be happy.