If you could sit across from your younger self—wide-eyed, uncertain, maybe a little too hard on themselves—what would you say? In a world that often prioritizes productivity over peace, many of us grow up without the tools to care for our emotional and mental well-being. Self-care can feel like a luxury, or worse, an afterthought. But what if we could go back and offer some gentle guidance—words we needed to hear, but didn’t know how to ask for? This is a letter, a reflection, and a reminder: self-care isn’t selfish, it’s survival. And sometimes, it starts with the advice we wish we’d been given years ago. Read below to see what advice the Cornerstone Team would give their younger selves regarding self-care.

Don

"My advice to my younger self would be to trust my instincts and my gut feelings in critical situations, as in the end I have good instincts and gut feelings, and they may have provided me with not just good but better outcomes!"

Leslie

"I would tell my younger self to stop and smell the roses! It is okay to pause and take some time for myself. I feed my soul when I’m crafting or sewing in my sewing room that I affectionately have named “Hassie’s Atelier”. I would tell myself to get off the treadmill of life and feed my soul!"

Hailey

"One piece of self-care advice I would give my younger self is to talk to myself like I’m talking to someone I love. This approach would have helped me shift my inner voice from a critic to a companion. For my younger self, this could’ve been the difference between burnout and balance, and to teach my nervous system safety, not shame."

Nastassja

"Self-care advice that I would give my younger self would be to understand that sometimes asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. It's ok to be Superwoman and ask for help. You don't have to face challenges alone."

Taylor

"My self-care advice would be to do more things that bring me joy. I can get very caught up in my to-do lists and forget to make time and energy for the things and people that I enjoy. I need rest, I need connection, and I need space to be myself."