If I could write a letter to me

There is a song out that is about writing a letter to himself at 17. I have a close friend that has teenagers and I have a school aged daughter. I see the struggles that they are dealing with. To them they are life changing struggles. What this person said about this other person. How relationships change from day to day, week to week and month to month if they are that lucky. I also see how my friend puts these rules in place that literally causes the teenager to rebel just to prove a point.
I want, so bad, to give these kids a “gibbs” slap up against their head. They think this moment is all there is to live for. That there is no other life outside their school/friend circles. They will have the job of their dreams, car of their dreams, house, friends, money everything they dream of. They don’t think they should have to answer to authority. They treat their parents like stepping stones. They think work is a joke and they deserve lots of money for a job of flipping burgers.
My letter to me at 14 would be about how school was fun and I met some cool people. However, most of those cool people are not in my life now. Those cool people went on to do their own life. Some made something of themselves, many did not. They thought they could have everything in life that you should work hard for but they tried to steal, cheat or lie for. Their “cool” life turned out to burn them in the end.
I would tell me that, yes, my heart would be broken several times but to dust myself off and move on. Not to wallow in pity of my broken heart or expect to try to hold on tighter to the next. Although those people made me who I am today, I wish I had known they weren’t the future for me.
I would have told myself to do better in school. To earn higher grades and acheviments. I am a stay at home mom, but I would feel better to say I had did very well. My child’s 1st grade homework is a beast compared to what I did in 3rd grade. I know if I had did well in school, I would feel better about helping with homework.
I would have told myself to live at home with my parents for a few years after high school. I would have a better understanding for money and respect.
In the end, I would tell me to stop putting myself down because I wasn’t as beautiful as some or as smart. I would tell myself that I’m not perfect and no matter how hard we try, nobody is. I would tell myself that the homecoming king is a drunk and can’t keep a job and the homecoming queen was busted for prostitution. I would ask myself to see today as today. Yesterday was in the past and in my memory to learn from. Tomorrow is another day to make it right, if I couldn’t, then it would be in the past and I can start over.
I sincerely hope I can teach my children these things. I have a feeling that they, too, will have to learn on their own, and I will be right there with them.
So what would your letter say to you?