I recently learned of a website called futureme.org where
you can write emails to yourself to be sent at a later date up to fifty years
in to the future. I thought the idea was pretty cool but upon thinking of it, I
would really have no idea what to write. I could ask questions like: Do you
still overindulge in ice cream, peanut butter, and wine? Do you still put
ketchup on your pizza? Do you still get roped into trashy television shows? But
I think we all know the answers to these questions already. It got me thinking
of how a note to yourself in the future would probably be easier to write
during a time of turmoil in your life. During a time when you are looking for
answers, seeking the truth, or starting a new path. Ten years ago, I was in
that spot. I had just called off an engagement to a great guy. It was a total “it’s
not you, it’s me” scenario and I was young and wanted to live life for a while.
I was cancelling a wedding, moving out, and starting down the path of the great
unknown. At the time, I thought it was the right thing for me but my fear was
that I would look back and realize I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I
bet at that time, it would have been easier to write a letter to the future me
but since I didn’t, I figured I’d take a minute to write a letter to the past
me. It would go like this...
Dear Diane of Ten Years Ago,
Fear not, because you have made the best decision of your
life. You were honest and true to yourself in a time where it would have been
so easy to take the simple road. You turn out just fine – better and stronger
than you can imagine. The people who supported you now will remain/become the
most important people in your life. The people who did not support you will
eventually disappear because they honestly were not worth your time. You will
fall in love with your perfect mate and you will never doubt that he is the one
you are meant to spend the rest of your life with. You will marry and make
perfect, little, demon children together. They will become your whole world. It
will be a world that is happy, complete, and more than you could have dreamed
of. So for now, keep being young and fabulous because your grown up life will
be waiting for you when you are ready.
Love,
Diane (with a few more age spots, pounds, and stretch marks)
Diane (with a few more age spots, pounds, and stretch marks)
What would you write to your past or future you?
