A Letter to My Future Self

You're standing in line balancing five items in your arms waiting for your turn to be greeted by the lovely cashier, "Lori;" as you're standing in line, you wonder how many cases of bottled Sprite does one adult need? You look to your right at all of the chocolate that can make your body go into a diabetic coma. You eventually bring your attention to your left and you see your favorite celebrity on the cover of a magazine with the headline: "A Letter to Your Younger Self." For the past several years that has been the tagline most magazines use to remind disadvantaged people how "normal" the rich and famous can be. From J.K. Rowling to Kobe Bryant, celebrities have been open and honest about the advice they would give their younger selves. One topic I've never noticed a celebrity do is write a letter to their future selves. It's a chance for you to start where you currently are in life and project how you see your life in the future. Sounds simple, right? For some, it may be, but if you're like me then you love to analyze and break down every aspect of your life. So, I went one step further and started to think about how I saw my future self in love, in finance, in life. Here it goes…

Dear Self,

First, I would like to congratulate you on deciding to cope with your mental health. Deciding that you needed to go to therapy is a big step. I must say this is the one thing you've been consistent with. Keep up the good work. I hate to break it to you, but you would get everything you needed from this therapist in the next three to five months. After that, you would have the strength and the tools to move on. I know you love routine and I know your palms are clammy because you're not a fan of change, but it has to be done so you can live the second half of your life. One of the issues I've noticed that you struggled with is loving yourself and having enough courage to love someone else. The good news is that you do love yourself. You've loved yourself enough to go to therapy, to end relationships and to restore new ones. You might be surprised, but you are currently conquering this fear. You will experience the self-confidence you daydream about and the healthy body you've always wanted. You will finally become that vegetarian you always wanted to be and you will finally have that flat stomach you always wanted to have. Yes, you would finally be able to look down and see your feet while in the shower. Let's not forget about the romance. You will marry someone who would fulfill your needs and not your wants. He will be kind, respectable, honest, giving, and a protector. Besides your parents, he will be your number three fan. He will cheer you on when you're good and give you criticism when you're doing bad. The friend that you seek from women, you will find it in a man. Be patient. In order to meet you, he has to work out his kinks. Keep praying for him, he's coming.

Second, your debt will be reduced by 65 percent and your college tuition will be paid off. You will obtain that 800-credit score. You will have a career change. You will finally make money doing what you love and not doing what is expected. You will have the tools and confidence needed to be your own boss and to run your own business. You would save enough money to finally move out of town to live more of a stress-free life. You will finally buy that car you always wanted and live in a home that you can finally call your own. The impulse shopping will reduce dramatically and you will invest more in your stock portfolio. You will finally be able to celebrate having zero debt.

Lastly, you will be at a place in your life where you can wake up and smile. You can finally smile at the fact that you've achieved all of your dreams. You get to share that experience with the people you love and with those who love you in return. You can finally meditate and manifest to continue to live in a place of content—worry-free. You would have become allergic to the words, "I Can't," "I Won't," "I'm Stressed," and "I'm Depressed." But you finally will see the woman you constantly tell your therapist about.

Love Always,

Teisha

With the knowledge that I've obtained over the past year, I wouldn't be able to offer my younger self advice. My younger self wouldn't listen. It would be difficult to listen when all you ever wanted to do is explain your side of the story. One must be open-minded to listen to any advice or criticism. My ego and pride as a young teenager were untamed, sometimes, and my stubbornness was at an all-time high. I completely understand why popular magazines do this exercise with celebrities. It's the whole mentality of, "The things that I know now I wish I would have known back then." As humans, we all want to avoid the struggle and just jump right into the main event. Knowing what we know now might have saved us the pain and the heartbreak. We should all be clear that although we all have the knowledge and wisdom, our younger selves would not even be half-concerned about our advice. If we all had the ability to go back in time to change some things around, do you think we would end up being the person we are today? If it's a must to go back and give your younger self advice, the best thing that you can do is to simply say, "Thank you." Without your mistakes, trials, and tribulations, your younger self wouldn't transform to be the person you are today. A lot of one's pessimistic attitude and depression stems from past experiences. Constantly stating what you should've done or what you should've said. All we can do is attempt to focus on the now. Use this present day to speak things into existence. If we all took the time to focus and work on who we are now, our younger selves would thank us later.

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