Minka Kelly writes a heartfelt message to her younger self on her birthday

Minka Kelly couldn’t be happier about where she is in life.

In a touching Instagram post on June 24, the actress celebrated her 44th birthday by offering some positive words to her younger self. The social media post also came as Kelly finished filming season 1 of her new Netflix show. Ransom Canyonwith Josh Duhamel.

“If I could have talked to my younger self when I was here as a scrappy young girl at Valley High School, here’s what I could say: Hey mink, guess what. In twenty years or so, everything will be fine. More than ok! “” she wrote in the caption alongside several production photos and a throwback image of her from years ago. “You will feel safe enough to finally let down all your guards. You will release all the survival mechanisms that have protected you for so long because you will no longer need them. Your heart will be wide open and you will be so in love with your life. Personally and professionally.

“There’s going to be this really cool company called Netflix and they’re going to build huge luxury studios about 15 minutes from here and you’re going to shoot a big TV series with some of the coolest, most talented cast and crew including your little heart can dream. And you will all love each other so much!!! “, she continued. “You are going to grow so much and you will deserve all the love, joy and fulfillment you will have in your life when you turn 44.” It seems very far away, but everything is happening so quickly. And it will all be divinely timed. All the clichés are true. None of this makes sense right now, but it will. I promise you. You can do it. »

THE Friday night lights alum – who was romantically involved with Imagine Dragons singer Dan Reynolds – continued to reflect on her life, adding that she is “exactly where I’m supposed to be”.

“For my birthday, this year, right now, I feel happy,” she also wrote. “This is all I ever wanted. Peace and ease for my nervous system. Finally. Grateful doesn’t even come close to cutting it. But thanks anyway. I love you. See you in 2025 🤠 ♥️”

Kelly’s path to success was not easy. In his 2023 memoirs Tell me everythingshe spoke candidly about her difficult childhood.

“My childhood was colorful and chaotic, unstable and inconsistent, unpredictable and difficult most of the time,” Minka told PEOPLE ahead of the release of her memoir. “But the positive side is that it has made me a very adaptable person.”

Raised by her mother, Maureen, an exotic dancer at the Crazy Girls strip club in Los Angeles, Kelly’s father, Rick Dufay, is a guitarist who notably played with Aerosmith in the 1980s. (She and her father formed a relationship later in life.)

Kelly grew up watching her mother work to make ends meet while battling addiction and domestic violence. When the actress was 17, she performed in peep shows at an adult video store in Albuquerque, determined to support herself after growing up among family, friends and acquaintances when her mother left her for years. weeks and months.

“I started with the scariest part,” she says of her memoir. “The part I was most ashamed of, the part I felt most embarrassed about, the part I hid my whole life and the part people made me feel bad about. And I felt like that. It was precisely where I had to be the most courageous.”​​

Never miss a story: Sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Kelly landed her starring role as Lyla Garrity in Friday night lightswhich ran for five seasons from 2006 to 2011. In the years since, the actress has appeared in television and film projects including Almost Human, The Butler, Euphoria And Joan the Virgin.

His next Netflix show Ransom Canyon — which is created, written and produced by All American creator April Blair and also starring Duhamel and James Brolin – is described as “a romance-fueled family drama and contemporary Western saga that traces the intersecting lives of three ranching families, all set in the rugged expanse of Texas Hill Country,” according to Tudum. .