Did you ever have a teacher that made you write letters to your future self, and then promised to send them in five or ten years to remind you of what you used to aspire to?
I didn’t, but I do have a blog, which functions in a similar capacity if you keep it around long enough, minus the postage.
It’s affirming to read that the me of eight years ago was worried that in half that time I’d give up playing guitar and turn into some vacant, corporate, brown-nosing shell of what I had hoped to be.
It’s affirming because in half that time I had almost given up playing guitar, but I realized the insanity in that and reversed course. It’s affirming because I got corporate, but it just made me more comfortable being myself.
It’s affirming because I imagined myself saying, “none of my friends even really knew i was into it that seriously,” and I don’t think I could accuse myself of that anymore. It’s affirming because I think the current me is exactly who the younger me would have wanted me to be.
And, it’s affirming to know that it’s okay to wonder if I’m going to fail spectacularly at the future I want for myself, because just the practice of worrying means I’m on the right track.
What worries did the you of 2000 have about the you of today? Do you think they’d be pleased to see how you turned out?