Question

write a letter to the world in which you share your ideal for the future

Answer 1

pondering where his path laid, decided that it was a good idea to write to his future self.

It was.

Re-reading it, the letter remains as poignant and relevant today as the day I received it. I’m surprised today, as I was when I read it for the first time, at how many of the things I grappled with then — dealing with uncertainty, questioning my purpose, pondering about the people in my life— I continue to do so today, albeit at a different level. Questions I hope I’ll continue to wrestle for the rest of my life.

“A man never steps in the same river twice. For he is not the same man and it’s not the same river.” — Heraclitus

Understandably, there was a lot of trepidation back then as a 20 year-old trying to find his place in the world. I’m definitely more certain today; of how life is inherently uncertain, and how much more there is to know and how little I do know. Because of that, there is a lot of trepidation today. Understandably.

Even though we change as we grow, I guess many of us never really change on the innermost level, but we simply develop layers and nuances superposed on that core and become a different version of ourselves.

It’s strange, isn’t it? To look back at our younger selves and to feel that a version of yourself can be so distant and unfamiliar, when that person couldn’t be more you than you, and at one point was the version of you. And that someday in the future, you’ll look back and feel exactly the same way about who you are now.

Back to the letter. I haven’t looked at it in awhile, and since I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile now, I thought it’s a fitting moment to revisit the letter, and while I’m at it, write my future-self a new letter.

Below are selected excerpts of the letter, interspersed with my commentary.

It began with some preamble about what was happening back then when I wrote that letter: I was having a Java (programming language) exam next week and I was about to enlist into the army.