Changing Seasons Changing Lives

Dear future self,

Do you still doubt? Do you wonder where to go or what to say? You’re still changing, just as I am slowly becoming you. I wonder how different we will be. Will my wishes for you follow, fulfill? 

I’ve heard the small piece of wisdom that all people are obsessed with the future, and that we never really live in the moment. If that’s true, my hopes are pinned on you, always. I know you’ll think of me when I’m only a memory, though you’ll know me better than I could ever know you. Perhaps you’ll think of me with joy, or with a slew of lessons learned, or regret. Perhaps you’ll wish for me in my simplicity or storminess; perhaps you’ll curse me and call me a fool. 

It’s odd how we can look to one another, but never truly be in contact, in communion. We are forever becoming, but never together. Somehow I can still write to you with hope and wonder. I hope you’ll think well of me.  

Dear Future Me,

Sitting down, trying to write this has been tough. I don’t know where you will end up, but regardless of what you’re doing, I hope you end up happy. In college, we’ve struggled with asking for help, when we needed it the most. I hope you accept help from people now and learn from their experiences; you don’t have to carry the world on your shoulders alone. I expect you to let your emotional side come through that “tough” exterior you put on.  You’re going to continue to make all the boys run away if you don’t let them see the real you (us!).

Listen to mom and dad more, you need help with your finances and they know what is best for your heath (case in point, belly ring=horrible idea!). I hope you hold on tight to those reasons that made you want to teach, and you prove all those family members wrong who said “you’ll never find a job in that field” or “what a waste of a four year degree.”  Don’t bury your true reasons under the stress and nerves.

Forget and forgive those who have wronged you in the past. Learn from mistakes so that you are not doomed to repeat them.  Also learn to recognize and welcome change, change isn’t always a bad thing.  I’m not saying change completely, but don’t be so stubborn either. Remember to keep in touch with your best friends more, because they are your source of sanity.

Oh, and don’t forget to renew your gym membership.

And I hope your Chevy is holding up well and don’t forget to wash it every once in a while.  

Good luck in the future,

Dear Future Me, I hope you’re doing well, and by that I mean I hope you’re doing something that makes you happy. Right now, your plans are to become a high school English teacher and eventually travel the world teaching students and blogging, but I want you to know that if you aren’t doing that – I’m still proud of you. So what, your life might not be exactly how you pictured it as you sit at your desk writing this, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t right where you’re supposed to be! You of all people know that sometimes life throws us curve balls we could never expect and that is okay, I hope by now you’ve learned to make the best out of every situation.

 As you read this, I hope you’re picturing exactly what was going on in your life when you first sat down with your pen. I want you to remember the stressful days spent in the library, the long nights binge watching Netflix with your roommates, crying over stupid college boys who were probably never worth your time and the “Oh my God, I will never survive as an adult” mini panic-attacks you gave yourself every time you got called back for a job interview, a new bill came in the mail or dad stopped filing your taxes for you. Now, pick up your hand and pat yourself on the back. As long as you are reading this, you survived.

 I also want you to remind yourself of how hard this letter is to write. Now, I don’t want you to remember that you struggled to find the words to say, but that you didn’t want to put anything on paper you would be disappointed in if you didn’t live up to it. I hope you still have the mindset now and don’t ever make your plans for the future set in stone. One of the most important things you have learned so far is how uncertain the future is and that it is better to enjoy the journey of life and see where it takes you. Everything that has happened in your life up to this point has led you to here. The good, the bad and the in between has joined together to form you exactly as you are right now, and how you are as you read this might not even be the same by the time you finish it. 

Future self, I am not going to tell you that if you didn’t get married, have kids, secured a job or continued with anything that you thought you may have wanted that you failed. Instead, I am going to tell you that as long as you are still driven, have learned to love yourself as much as you love others, appreciate the people in your life and treat them well and can look in the mirror even if everything is falling apart around you and smile, then you have done a great job. I am proud of you. 

There have been somethings I’ve seen that left me different than who I thought I wanted to be.

 I’ve taken many new things in and also set a lot of old memories free.

 The older I get the more complex the world has grown,

 I have studied, traveled, and have found that my house isn’t my only home.

 Snow has fallen, flowers begin to bloom and I have changed too,

 A positive outlook and appreciate for all that life offers, a new outlook on life I now suggest for you.

 Who you once were is not who you must always be,

 What is important is that when you look in the mirror, you are happy with what you see.

 I have a long way to go and will change to change with the weather,