Prompt: write a letter to your future-self.

Dear future-self,

I hope 2022 is filled with surprises– the good kind. Your past-self, the one who is writing this letter, hates surprises. The unpredictable, the unknown, the disorganized… it’s all too much, but I hope by the time the year ends she learns how to live life one day at the time. Sometimes, especially our generation, we are pressured to plan out our lives. The pressure can often be so strong that we forget to enjoy the now. That’s one lesson I hope I learn by the end of this year: to enjoy the present moment.

Graduating, as happy as it can be, comes with a lot of other struggles and dilemmas. Where am I going next? What if I am not good enough to get into my dream master’s program? How do I choose between London and New York? Where will I feel most at home? Why does it feel like I am not doing enough? Should I get a job before applying to my master’s? How do I know the right order? How do I position the factors in such a way that they lead to success? Those are all the questions bombarding my mind just before I fall asleep, as if they wait under my pillow ready to attack me at my weakest, most vulnerable moment: between slumber and awakening.

It is hard to trust that we are right were we need to be. In fact, I found myself writing down trust the process every day as an affirmation on my journal. We don’t always have to know where we are going. It is also alright if we get a new job and then completely hate it. It is normal to apply to several graduate programs and not know where to go. It is acceptable to have completely different paths in front of you. The fear your past-self is feeling may be necessary at the time, but I hope that wherever you are, you are happy. I hope whether it is London or New York or publishing your first novel or working at a publishing house or maybe struggling to find a job you love… I hope you trust the process. I hope you no longer feel the need to write it down as a daily affirmation because, by the time the year ends, you should already know that you are on the right path. I hope you love writing as much as your past-self did.

Ideally, you will believe in yourself as much as your family and friends do. You always had big dreams, even as a kid, but it is also known that you haven’t yet acknowledge how capable you are. As your past-self, looking back, I know you can accomplish anything. By 2023, you should be reminded of today– as I am writing this, and how insecure and confused I am. I hope all of that is gone. I hope you feel strong enough to choose a path and know– with certainty– that you can make it happen for yourself.

Love,

your past-self.