'Everything Is Going To Be Ok': Minka Kelly Writes Emotional Message To Her Younger Self

Minka Kelly reflected finding peace and success on an Instagram post as she celebrated her 44th birthday. She shared her struggling childhood but expressed gratitude for career and personal growth.

By Hena Ahmed

Published on Jun 30, 2024 | 02:52 PM IST | 108K

Minka Kelly (PC: Instagram)

Minka Kelly celebrated her 44th birthday with a positive affirmation. She looked back at her professional and personal journey. The actor recently completed her new Netflix show Ransom Canyon starring Josh Duhamel. The Friday Night Lights star on June 24 wrote a touching post on Instagram. She shared an old throwback image along with other production photos and wrote:

"If I could have spoken to my younger self back when I was out here as a scrappy young girl at Valley High School, this is what I might say: hey mink, guess what. In about 20 or so years, everything is going to be ok. More than ok!"You'll feel safe enough to finally let all your guard down. You'll release all the survival mechanisms that kept you safe for so long because you won't need them anymore. Your heart will be wide open and you're going to be so in love with your life. Personally and professionally."

Know about Kelly's early life struggles, parents Maureen Kelly and Rick Dufay

Kelly's career path has been full of struggles. She revealed in her 2023 memoir Tell Me Everything about having a challenging childhood. Kelly spoke to the PEOPLE ahead of her memoir's release, "My childhood was colorful and chaotic, unstable and inconsistent, unpredictable and hard a lot of the times. But the silver lining is that it made me a very adaptable person." Kelly was raised by her mother Maureen, an exotic dancer at the Crazy Girls strip club in Los Angeles. Her father Rick Dufay was a guitarist known to perform with Aerosmith during the 80's. Sadly, Minka and her father built a relationship later in life.

Minka Kelly on finding peace at 44

She continued, "There's going to be this cool company called Netflix and they're going to build huge fancy studios about 15 mins away from here and you're going to be shooting a big fancy TV show with some of the coolest and most talented cast and crew your little heart can dream of. And you are all going to love each other so much!!!".You're going to grow so much and you're going to deserve all the love joy and fulfillment you'll have in your life when you turn 44 years old. It seems really far away, but it all happens so fast. And all of it will be divinely timed. All the cliches are true. None of this makes sense right now, but it will. I promise. You've got this."Kelly reflected on her life that she's "exactly where I'm supposed to be."

She felt content on her birthday and was at peace. She wrote, "It's all I've ever wanted. Peace and ease for my nervous system. At long last. Thankful doesn't even come close to cutting it. But, thank you, nonetheless. I love you. See you in 2025 🤠♥️". She was earlier romantically linked to Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds.

Minka Kelly's candid memoir on embracing courage and creating a legacy

Kelly's childhood was full of struggles, she saw her mother working hard to earn and overcome addiction and domestic violence. She bravely addressed that at 17 she performed at peep shows at an adult video store in Albuquerque to fend money. She confronted shame and past judgment with courage, and stated, "I started with the scariest part. The part that I carried the most shame about, the part that I felt the most embarrassed of, the part that I hid my whole life, and the part that I've had people make me feel bad about. And I felt like that was just where I had to be the most brave."

Kelly managed an outstanding role in Friday Night Lights as Lyla Garrity which aired for five seasons between 2006 to 2011. She later took up television and film projects like Almost Human, The Butler, Euphoria, and Jane the Virgin to name a few. Kelly will also star in Netflix's Ransom Canyon, a romance-fuelled drama with a contemporary Western saga. It stars Duhamel and James Brolin and was created, written, and executive-produced by April Blair.

ALSO READ: Minka Kelly: Here are 5 scandalous revelations the actress made in her new memoir 'Tell Me Everything'