Lifestyle Style Cindy Crawford Shares Sweet Advice for Her Younger Self in 56th Birthday Post: 'Life Is a Blessing' "I would tell her not to be afraid to make a fool of herself — dance, sing, etc more — even if she isn't good at it," Cindy Crawford said By Nicholas Rice Nicholas Rice Instagram Twitter Nicholas Rice is an Associate Editor for PEOPLE Magazine. He began working with the brand as an Editorial Intern in early 2020, before later transitioning to a freelance role, and then staff positions soon after. Nicholas writes and edits anywhere between 7 to 9 stories per day on average for PEOPLE, spanning across each vertical the brand covers. Nicholas has previous work experience with Billboard, POPSUGAR, Bustle and Elite Daily. When not working, Nicholas can be found playing with his 5 dogs, listening to pop music or eating mozzarella sticks. People Editorial Guidelines Published on February 21, 2022 10:42 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Cindy Crawford. Photo: Cindy Crawford/Instagram Cindy Crawford is celebrating another trip around the sun! The supermodel, who celebrated her 56th birthday on Sunday, reflected on what she'd tell her younger self in an Instagram post the day prior. Sharing a black and white photograph of herself sitting beside a birthday cake as a child, Crawford said she was "looking back at little Cindy and thinking about what I would tell her." "I would tell her to be kinder to herself, to treat herself the way she treats her friends. I would tell her everyone feels nervous in new situations and sometimes you just have to fake it 'til you make it," Crawford wrote. "I would tell her not to be afraid to make a fool of herself — dance, sing, etc more — even if she isn't good at it." Cindy Crawford Instagram Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber Celebrate 23rd Anniversary with Throwback of 'Magical' Wedding "Laugh as much as possible. Be vulnerable. Risk showing her true self to people she loves — the payoff is worth it," she continued. "Practice gratitude. Keep growing and learning and becoming…life is a blessing! 💜." In the comments section, the supermodel received an outpouring of love from some of her famous friends. "Great advice for every age‼️ Happy Birthday‼️❤️," wrote Christie Brinkley. "Happy birthday to you, amazing woman and friend ❤️❤️❤️," commented Helena Christensen. "Happy birthday ICON 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟," Alessandra Ambrosio added. RELATED VIDEO: Kaia Gerber Talks Her Super Role Model: 'My Mom Is My Muse' On her birthday, the mom of two posted a Boomerang video of herself posing with a cake in a festive display, including an oversized "C" balloon. "Thank you for all the birthday love 💜🎂," she captioned the snaps. Want to get the biggest stories from PEOPLE every weekday? Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday. Back in June, Crawford chatted with PEOPLE about aging and the empowerment of experimenting with beauty. "The whole point of it is to empower us. It's the tool that gives us confidence," she said. "Like if you want to try a smokey eye one night or a dark eye or a liquid liner – I mean, I'm terrible at that so I wouldn't try that myself – but [beauty is] supposed to be fun." "If we're lucky we get to age. That is a privilege. But it's also very daunting for women [to think], 'Okay, what's going to happen?' " Crawford continued. "With skin care, my approach has been 'age-maintenance'. Gravity's still out there and things are going to happen, but let me take as good care of my skin as I can," the Meaningful Beauty cofounder said. "And I just want women to know that it's okay, with the skin care and now with the hair care, to give yourself this little gift [of self-care] for five minutes in the morning or five minutes in the evening."