I appreciate that I get to make conscious choices today…I get to make choices about who I am…About how I act…I even get to choose the tools that keep me safe and healthy…When I was very young I wasn’t consciously creating new tools…I was simply trying to survive…And I did survive…I was creative…I was thoughtful…I came up with ways to get through very difficult times…If I knew back then what I know now…I might have created different tools…I might have created different tactics…But I was young and inexperienced…I did the best I could…And what I did was pretty amazing…Without guidance I found ways of surviving…Without guidance I made it through and I am here today…But now that I’m older…Now that I’m more experienced…Now that I have more agency…I can make very different choices…I can consciously create new tools…As I consciously create these new tools…I am letting go of the tools and tactics from my youth…When I’m doing this I’m not saying those tools are wrong…I’m not saying I made a mistake by acting that way in the past…Instead what I’m doing is honoring the choices I made in the past and recognizing I can make new choices today…I so appreciate the younger me…Who was creative enough to help me to survive difficult times…Choosing new ways to respond is not disrespecting the younger me…It is taking care of the younger me…In new and powerful ways…I give myself permission to honor my past…I give myself permission to celebrate the new choices I’m making in the future…Because the new and thoughtful choices I’m making today are only possible because of the choices I made back then…I am healthier today because of the choices my younger self made…I appreciate and love my younger self…Because it has created the ability for me to make better choices today.