© 2026 ABC News

\"As growing adults we get launched into this sometimes cruel and heartless world,\" Smith continued. \"And through that we sometimes feel like we lose ourselves and that spark we once had. But the truth is, if we fight on, do the work, keep singing, dancing and loving... we will be ok.\"

Smith reflected on bullying they faced 10 years ago and how they didn't let it impact their journey to self-love.

\"The kid in this picture went to school everyday in their non binary gloriousness and ignored every stare or verbal taunt that was thrown their way. That kid never left. They just had some hardcore feelings to feel,\" Smith wrote.

The singer added a message of support and assurance for fans in the new year. \"To all you beautiful humans on the last day of 2019, my only advice after my very short time on this earth is... FEEL IT ALL!!!! And celebrate your sexy selves,\" Smith added.

In September, Smith announced they would use the pronouns \"they/them\" after coming out as gender nonbinary earlier this year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sam Smith (@samsmith) on Sep 13, 2019 at 6:57am PDT

\"After a lifetime of being at war with my gender I've decided to embrace myself for who I am, inside and out,\" Smith wrote.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/sam-smith-shares-photo-17-year-inspiring-message/story?id=68029487","legacySlug":"/culture/story/sam-smith-shares-photo-17-year-inspiring-message-68029487","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"16:51","publishDate":"01-02-2020","updatedTime":"19:48","updatedDate":"01-02-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"Sam Smith attends day two of Capital's Jingle Bell Ball 2019 at The O2 Arena on Dec. 8, 2019 in London.","credit":"Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/sam-smith-gty-200102_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"1/2/2020 16:51:23 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":68029487,"headline":"Sam Smith reflects on past decade with old photo","mediaAssetTitle":"SAM SMITH THROWBACK","description":"The Grammy Award-winning singer shared a post featuring their younger self.","duration":"0:21","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/06/190613_gma_digital_SamSmith_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["61048619","65593899","62175901"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"February 13, 2019","headline":"Sam Smith on learning to love his body","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/sam-smith-learning-love-body-dangerous-lengths-photo-61048619","id":61048619,"image":{"alt":"Sam Smith on learning to love his body","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/sam-smith-gty-jt-170908_hpMain_2_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"John Phillips/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"September 13, 2019","headline":"Grammy-winning singer Sam Smith changes pronouns to they/them","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/grammy-winning-singer-sam-smith-pronouns-theythem-65593899","id":65593899,"image":{"alt":"Grammy-winning singer Sam Smith changes pronouns to they/them","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/sam-smith-gty-ml-190913_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"April 4, 2019","headline":"Sam Smith gives himself a 'Naked Day' to 'celebrate this bod'","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/sam-smith-naked-day-celebrate-bod-62175901","id":62175901,"image":{"alt":"Sam Smith gives himself a 'Naked Day' to 'celebrate this bod'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/sam-smith-file-gty-jef-190404_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Santiago Bluguermann/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Sam Smith reflects on past decade with old photo","description":"The Grammy Award-winning singer shared a post featuring their younger self.","duration":"0:21","uploadDate":"01-02-2020","publication":"01-02-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/06/190613_gma_digital_SamSmith_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/06/190613_gma_digital_SamSmith_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/sam-smith-shares-photo-17-year-inspiring-message-68029487"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144373","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133144059","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133143081","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133075455","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063114","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133063086","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133015093","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998564","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132998072","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977374","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132977531","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132962364","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132958371","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132932494","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132927870","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911868","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132911765","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Sam Smith reflects on past decade with old photo","pubTime":"11:51","pubDate":"01-02-2020","modTime":"14:48","modDate":"01-02-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":68029487,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Sam Smith reflects on past decade with old photo","mediaAssetTitle":"SAM SMITH THROWBACK","videoId":68029487,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/sam-smith-shares-photo-17-year-inspiring-message-68029487"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/68029487","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/68029487","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};