Let’s write to our future selves

A while ago, my best friend mentioned how she got an email from her past self on futureme.org. She suggested I give it a try, so let’s do this together!

Just some background information on futureme.org, it lets you write a “letter” and set a date for when you want it emailed to you. You can also read anonymous letters that other people have sent to themselves. Of course, you can choose to share your letter anonymously as well or make it private. Anyways, it’s pretty cool to see letters ranging from 10 days to 10 years.

 

What to talk about

I’m sure we’ve all thought about things we’d tell our past selves. But when it comes to things we’d tell our future selves….it’s mind boggling to think about where to start! You’re talking to a version of you that’s more experienced and more knowledgeable! In a way, this is someone you should be looking up to.

We could reminisce about memories and life lessons we want to always remember. Imagine future-you lost sight of important things and became a super villain! And then, it was none other than a letter from the past that showed them the light!

Imagine you time traveling ahead and only getting 5 minutes to talk to your future self. What would you want to say the most? For me, I’d want to ask some questions. Is future me happier? What has future me been through? What important memories have future me made?

 

 

Fear of disappointment and uncertainty

Honestly, the thing holding me back is fear of disappointment. It would feel so bad to get a letter from my past self and think “wow, there was so much thought I could do. I could’ve been so much better.” Imagine being a starry-eyed dreamer going to a fortune teller and they said “yeah….I can see there’s a lot you want to accomplish, but sorry to say you’ll end up utterly mediocre.”

It’s hard to predict what will happen 2, 5, 10, or 20 years from now. 

13 year old me who had trouble fitting in thought I’d become a solitary career woman. Since then, I’ve learned more about loving and being loved, but I feel like I’m going nowhere career-wise. 18 year old me wanted to be completely self-sufficient by the end of university, but that ended up not happening.

What if my future plans don’t work out, but I get to a point where I’m content with what I have. And then, I get this letter from the past and think “wow, past-you would have been so disappointed. All this time was for nothing.” But at the same time, I don’t want to be wishy-washy and tell my future self that everything is good no matter what.

Realistically, I know every single person is afraid of failure and disappointment. And I know not everything is in our control. All we can do try our best with what we’ve got, and no hard work is ever wasted.

 

 

Anyways, now that I’ve vented my fears, it’s time to face them and write that letter.

Hope everybody is staying safe and sane,

~ Jin

You can also find me on my personal blog