Letter to my son with life tips for all graduates

Hi my handsome, my only one, the-best-thing-I-did-in-my-life,

It feels so lame to say it but it is true; I cannot believe you are graduating from college. You used to ask me how on earth those K-12 years will ever end and now 16+ years is coming to end. I am so proud of you for all you have done and it was a privilege to be your mom in this journey.

I know it is bitter sweet at this moment. You want to feel proud; you accomplished a big milestone, but you are also leaving some amazing times and memories behind. You feel like it is finally over; all the work you have to do to get good grades and pass your exams, but at the same time, may be for the first time, you feel like it was not so bad after all. You had friends, your had fun amongst all the studying. Those days you had to get up early or those nights you did not get any sleep to finish your project do not even feel so bad anymore. It feels like you are stepping into a more serious part of your life and you will be on your own. It feels amazing but a little scary at the same time. You may be thinking it should be pure happiness now but you realize there are other emotions floating in you. It is all OK. It is normal to feel a lot of things at this stage in your life. It is all healthy to feel it all. Live it, feel it; everything will fall into place. Those happy memories you made in those years are still yours to keep. You are still very young and there are amazing memories waiting to happen to you.

Just keep a few things I want to share with you that I wish I knew at your age:

1. Embrace your life with the good and the bad; all of it happens to bring you to the right path.

2. Never be afraid to make mistakes, that is how we all learn.

3. Wish with all your heart what you want to achieve in life; you may not set the timing but if you really want it, it will happen, may be even in a way you could have never imagined.

4. Use your heart as much as your beautiful brain; some things cannot be explained with your mind only; listen to your intuition.

5. Do not seek for approval from us or anybody else; believe in yourself and follow your own path.

6. If you are healthy that is the best blessing of all; take care of yourself emotionally and physically.

7. Love what you do at work; it might not be your first or even your third job/business but thrive to find meaning at what you do- where you spend at least 40 hours of your time. Do not buy into the mindset of living for weekends and retirement only to love your life. Enjoy your Mondays as much as your Fridays. Life is short make the most of it.

8. Always find time to have fun.

9. Remember, you are not your thoughts. Our old brain (limbic) is there to protect us from real danger but it can also try to keep you away from taking risks. Do not ignore or fight the voice that says “do not try it”, just say “thank you” and do what your heart says.

10. Nothing that happens to you can define you. You create who you are and who you want to be in this life time.

11. Do not be afraid of having BIG dreams. Everything around you exits because somebody dreamed it. Everything in the world changes because there are dreamers.

12. Find your purpose in life. Something bigger than you, that you want to be part of. You may not know what that is right away but see it in things you do and it will be clear some day. People who have a purpose are happier.

No matter what, you are not alone. We are here to support you. I know you will find amazing people- friends for life, partner for life- who will be there for you when we are gone too.

Love you!

Mom.