Dear Self, Today is Thanksgiving. On this day each year, I take the time to look back on the year so far. This year's a little different though. I'm looking back on my entire life. Doing this had made me see what a lucky person I am. I've learned so much from each experience in my life, and I'm thankful for everything. From every opportunity taken, to every opportunity missed; every tear, every laugh; every broken heart and every heart mended - it has made me a better person. Everything made me step away from being worried about being accepted and instead start becoming who I'm meant to be. It's been a strange thing, growing up. When I was younger I thought that being grown-up had to do with maturity, and that is something that I've always been greatly endowed with. But now I see that there's no such thing as being "mature", since life is an ever-maturing experience. You learn something every day, something that helps you grow as a person, even in the smallest way. One of the wisest things I ever heard a person say was that a human soul changes from week to week, because there is new knowledge. I think that admitting that you indeed don't know everything and accepting that, is better then having all the knowledge in the world. It takes a little bit of wisdom at least to acknowledge your issues and say, "I have a lot to learn." Because let's face it, no matter if you're sixteen or sixty, no one knows everything. It's taken me a while to get the hang of really understanding and accepting who I am and who I will be as a human being. I know that likely, something will change in my personality by the time I reach my seventeenth year. But that's okay, you know? After all, something tells me that no matter what the change - good or bad - next year, on Thanksgiving, I'll be reflecting and thankful for all I've learned. Being a child is almost as funny as growing up. I remember all the times watching TV, never getting any of the jokes anybody told. Now, when I watch the same movies, I say to myself, "How the hell did that go over my head?!" It's interesting when you grow up and that innocence walks out the door that gets opened in about elementary school. It's even more interesting when you get into adolescence, watch a movie, wait a few years and watch it again. You'll be doing the same thing. "How the hell did I miss that?!" I guess for me, more then eating or any of that, Thanksgiving is for reflection. You know, not like I don't reflect enough as it is, but still. I'm thankful for all that I've learned, all that will be learned - and I'm even thankful for the things I don't know yet. May everything I need to know be gathered in time. Happy Thanksgiving, self. Till next time. -Summer, age 16