Five years ago, one of my best friends gave me this book for my birthday called “Letters to my Future Self.” Contained in the book are envelopes with specific topics -- the obvious point to write a letter to your future self about that topic, seal the envelope, and open on an arbitrarily chosen date in the future. I chose 6/14/2021 as my date to open the letters which was three days ago.
I wrote 7 letters to myself. One about what “home” means to me, another about who I am, one about my hopes for the future, another about romance, one about travel, another about my life’s calling. The last one was a letter of advice from then 25-year old me to now 30-year old me.
Reading the letters was… so cool. You’re probably expecting me to say how much I have changed in 5 years, and I was expecting that too, but reading those letters proved the exact opposite. In how I view myself, the world, my purpose in life, my friendships and my family, nothing has changed, and I’m so thankful. I realized how solid I have been over the past 5 years, and it was a grounding experience and powerful reminder of who I am and who I always want to be.
Our world is pretty chaotic right now and I often feel caught up in the drama of it all. These letters showed me that though I have branched out, grown, and spread myself and my interests in different directions over the years, my roots haven’t been dug up. They are still firmly planted. I am strong in my convictions, beliefs, morals, and passions, and I hope to be so 5 years from now. And 10. And 20.
You get the idea.
