The following post is a letter to my younger self as part of a campaign by Legal & General. Click on the link to join in and potentially win yourself £1000 worth of holiday vouchers!

Dear Gemma,

I’m your 31 year-old self. The older, more sensible and infinitely less sparkly version of you now, aged 21.

You’re now a very proud mummy of two. You have a lovable but challenging 2 year-old called Dexter (you named him after an American TV series about a serial killer… yep, I know…) and an adorable 5 month old little girl named Heidi. They are your absolute world and you keep an online scrapbook all about your parenting misadventures and life with your partner, Craig (> Yes. That Craig. The one you knew when you were doing your A-Levels)

You won’t believe this, but your days are now spent changing nappies, singing ‘The Wheels on the Bus” and wiping bloody knees. You’re broke, you’re sometimes lonely and you drink too much wine, but there isn’t too much you’d change in your life. You’ve reached that blissful stage in life where you’ve realised that nothing is perfect, and there’ll always be a struggle to overcome. The trick is to hurdle, duck or smash them down, then simply put them behind you.

I write to you now as in a few months time, you’re going to split up with your boyfriend of 3 years. And, you’re going to take it badly.

The break-up will see you moving house, towns and jobs. You’ll tell yourself more than once that it would be easier to just give up. You’ll actually end up doing a few silly things that will make you cringe when you’re older! This will become a bit of a theme throughout your life; you fall to pieces over failed relationships.

 

I don’t want to scare you as the experience is necessary. It bought you safely back to Craig, it’s allowed you to create a new home for yourself with your beautiful children, and it made you into the woman you are today. You won’t thank me for saying it, but each break-up will set a course of events in motion that will change your life for the better.

As I am you, I know already that you’ll hate me offering you advice. We’re quick to believe everyone is patronising us, and unfortunately that won’t change when you’re older! But that’s exactly what I’m doing now.

I won’t pretty-it-up any longer. Here’s what I now know!

Know your worth. Realise that you are a sassy, beautiful and intelligent woman, and deserve to be treated as such.

Never settle for a guy that uses text speak or thinks it’s acceptable to wear tracksuit bottoms outside the house

You will fall in love with tons of idiots, but that love feels nothing like the love you will feel with Craig

Take a second look at the nice guys - you’re going to end up with a very nice one but it might save you some heartache along the way!

When you finally meet Craig, it will be easy. Everything will be easy.