Seven years ago, Meghan Markle turned 33 and took to her lifestyle blog The Tig to muse on her special day.
“I am 33 years old today. And I am happy. And I say that so plainly because, well…it takes time,” she penned back in 2014.
“To be happy. To figure out how to be kind to yourself. To not just choose that happiness, but to feel it.”
However as her blog continues, the points she makes hit home harder than ever, especially now she and Prince Harry are no longer working members of the royal family.
In the 2014 blog, Meghan admits that her twenties and teenage years weren’t exactly great.
“My 20s were brutal – a constant battle with myself, judging my weight, my style, my desire to be as cool/as hip/as smart/as ‘whatever’ as everyone else,” she wrote at the time.
“My teens were even worse – grappling with how to fit in, and what that even meant. My high school had cliques: the black girls and white girls, the Filipino and the Latina girls. Being biracial, I fell somewhere in between. So everyday during lunch, I busied myself with meetings – French club, student body, whatever one could possibly do between noon and 1pm- I was there. Not so that I was more involved, but so that I wouldn’t have to eat alone.”
But it was when Meghan was in her early-mid twenties that she learned a mantra that stuck with her, one that has carried her through the last few challenging years since falling in love with Prince Harry and joining the British royal circle.
“I must have been about 24 when a casting director looked at me during an audition and said ‘You need to know that you’re enough. Less makeup, more Meghan.’
“You need to know that you’re enough. A mantra that has now engrained itself so deeply within me that not a day goes by without hearing it chime in my head. That five pounds lost won’t make you happier, that more makeup won’t make you prettier, that the now iconic saying from Jerry Maguire -‘You complete me’ – frankly, isn’t true. You are complete with or without a partner. You are enough just as you are.
“So for my birthday, here’s what I would like as a gift: I want you to be kind to yourself. I want you to challenge yourself. I want you to stop gossiping, to try a food that scares you, to buy a coffee for someone just because, to tell someone you love them…and then to tell yourself right back. I want you to find your happiness.
“I did. And it’s never felt so good. I am enough.”
WATCH BELOW: See the finishing touches made on Duchess Meghan’s 38th birthday cake. Post continues after video…
Ever since the explosive Oprah interview when Harry and Meghan laid bare the brutal realities of being part of the British royal family, we’ve seen how the Duchess of Sussex has stayed true to herself.
Whether it was when she asked for help despite being refused when she reached breaking point and considered taking her own life, to the time she refused a curtsy and gave a warm hug instead, Meghan has been unapologetically Meghan.
Over the last 40 years she’s seen great success in her career, most notably her role on Suits and as a global ambassador for numerous philanthropic causes including feminism, the fight against climate change, the arts and animal rights.
She’s travelled the world, spoken at the UN, made friends, fallen in love and even welcomed two children in Archie and Lilibet.
So in honour of Meghan’s big 4-0, let’s be kind and remember that not only are we enough, but she is as well.
Happy birthday Meg, we hope Harry’s made a decent cake!
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