From What I Know Now, edited by Ellyn Spragins

In this book, different women write letters to their younger selves. Here are some pieces of their letters that I love.

"...There are other barriers you're erecting. You're spending a lot of energy getting out of phys ed classes because you're either a sports type of person or you're a Shakespeare type of person and you can't be crossing that line.

Breena, you are cheating yourself. You are guaranteeing yourself a sedentary life. Worse, you won't know how strong and athletic your body is. You won't get to enjoy using it until you're forty-nine years old. That's too long to wait.

Breena, honey, try more things. Cross some lines. Learning to swim won't stop you from reading Shakespeare. Finding your voice won't stop you from writing novels. You should be cooking on all four burners."

From Breena Clarke

Novelist

"...but you need to learn how to celebrate-not just to suffer... realize that being strong doesn't require that you deny yourself pleasures... What could also ease your stress is a different way of thinking about how we travel through this world. There's no ladder to success. The rhythm of life runs in cycles. There are times in the darkness and times in the light. The energy of life is like the rain forest in Borneo. Things live, grow, die, fall to the forest floor, rot, and then they are born again.

You must embrace these changes. As difficult as they are, they will pass. But you mustn't bury or deny the darkness. You gotta live through it; you can't cheat.

Even now, you have a lot to look forward to. Birthdays, for example. You and Louie have rarely made merry on those days. Sometimes you've forgotten them altogether. But that will change. You'll understand that purposefully capturing happy moments expands your soul.

It won't be a "happily ever after" story - the cycles of darkness and light continue. But have patience.

From Olympia Dukakis

Actress

"Being a mother of two tiny kids frazzles you because the utterly banal is, somehow, profoundly important. Nothing could be more mindless than wiping noses and pouring apple juice-yet yo know there's no bigger job. For so much to hing on s little is brain-numbing... This kind of absurd mismatch between day-to-day motherhood and the emotional charge it carries can be a little scary...Beware the danger of extrapolation in motherhood. Despite his impressive tantrums, your willful son will not throw himself on the floor in grocery stores, screaming for candy, when he's grown up...This won't last forever. Don't feel oppressed by it. These are very short years in the scheme of life and you will live through them."

From Cokie Roberts

Columnist and Commentator

"Nora, you're actually doing a pretty good job. Some days you don't do so well, I admit. But other days you do. My advice: When juggling as much as you are, remember that some balls are glass and some are rubber. You can't drop the glass balls. Also, learn to put on blinders about certain things. Laundry will wait very patiently."

From Nora Roberts

Author

"The threat of failure scares you into these long hours. Yet success only intensifies the fear of discovery. Stop. It. Now. You're not an imposter. You're the genuine article. You have the brainpower. You have the ability. You don't have to work so hard and worry so much. You're going to do just fine. You deserve a place at the table.

From Joyce Roche

CEO of Girls Inc.

"1. Your hair matters far, far less than you think.

5. Don't speak too fast because you're afraid of wasting your listener's time. Listening is what you have to say is the highest and best use of anyone's time. Even if your hair looks terrible.

8. Don't hang out with anyone who doesn't understand why you're so wonderful, or who needs to be told, or who doesn't tell you at regular intervals when you forget."

From Lisa Scottoline

Novelist