Open up an album or a box of family photos. Find old pictures of yourself (alone and/or with other people). A variety of photos. Not just the cutest ones. The ones that make your heart twinge when you look at them. The birthday party where I threw that tantrum. The hayride where everyone else is smiling and I’m glaring at the camera. The one with the awkward haircut. The one where I’m looking up from the crib, so innocent and pure, it hurts to see.
Talk to the girl in the pictures, or write to her in your journal. Tell her she’s special, there’s no one like her. Tell her that she brings a unique light into the world, that whatever life brings to her, she’ll get the tools to overcome. That she’ll outgrow the awkwardness, that every quality she has is chomer from Hashem and is nothing to be ashamed of, that she’ll learn to refine it and use it to make the world brighter. Tell her that there will be rough patches and she’ll get through them and be a better person for it. Tell her her essence is always goodness. Tell her you’re there for her. Tell her the things she’s been waiting to hear.
Would you try this?
