Ko Tongariro te maunga

Ko Taupo-nui-a-tia te moana

Ko te Arawa te waka

Ko Maniaiti te marae

Ko Ngāti Mananui te hapu

Ko te Heuheu te tangata

Ko Ngāti Tuwharetoa te iwi

Ko Aaron rāua ko Bianca ōku mātua

Ko Iri Hāpeti rāua ko Anthony Pringle ōku whāea tipuna

Ko Garry Sheed rāua ko Judith Sheed ōku matua tipuna

Ko Manaia tōku mahanga

Ko Matai rāua ko Tamatea ōku tungāne

Ko Toia tōku ingoa

Whaia Tō Te Rangi!!!

Ki taku mokopuna ātaahua, pūmanawa hoki,

I am writing to you in case you ever need reassurance on why it is so important to know who you are. You can look back on this letter whenever you feel like someone, or something is trying to take over your inner self. Words don’t express how passionate I am about this. However, I hope my message gets out to you and you can be the change for both the benefit of yourself and others.

Most importantly, you need to know where you come from, who your whakapapa are, your whānau values and what tikanga is. You need to know what puts a smile on your face, what you enjoy doing, what you love, and your passions. You also might want to find out what you don’t like so much, things that put you out of your comfort zone, and perhaps your weaknesses.

I appreciate that maybe you don’t know yourself and your background because your mātua haven’t told you. However, I encourage you to find out because you will be so much more confident within yourself and hold so much more mana. Organize to meet with your uncles, aunties, and or grandparents. Ask them questions, patai mai, and they will provide you with further information about your whakapapa. I want you to understand and know as much about your heritage as possible.

When you know and accept who you are, your self-doubt will disappear. It will be easier to stand your ground. Some situations you might come across self-doubt could be meeting new people, trying new things, on the sports field, performances, learning at kura, and the list goes on. These are all times when having self-confidence plays a huge role.

Finding a purpose in life is another reason you should emphasize trying harder to be yourself. You were built for a reason, for a purpose it is what guides you, it is why you get up in the morning, and it can advise life decisions and shape goals. If you have no purpose in life, you will be EMPTY! It would be like life has no meaning! Richard Lieder, the author of eleven books came up with the equation ‘G + P + V = P, (Gifts + passions + value = purpose’). This may help you understand the purpose in life as an equation.

For me, because I know my whakapapa and our beliefs, I feel like I am never alone. I am in the presence of God. I have him with me, my tūpuna, my whānau, my parents, my siblings, friends, I am being guided. Your values are so important and as kids, you don’t really understand what values are. However, you may have school values, but when you grow older you have more important values like a reputation.

I respect, appreciate, and love you kids so much and I want you to grow up as you. No one else, not trying to be anyone else because trust me this will not do anything but make you feel like an inferior, cheap, and bad about yourself.

Inā kei te mohio koe ko wai koe, anga mai koe I hea, kei te mohio koe. kei te anga atu ki hea. If you know who you are and where you come from. Then you will know where you are going.

Aroha nui,

Nan.