Letters to the Future

In the past on this blog I've featured letters to my 16 and 60 year old selfs.  I've now found a website which will let you write an e-mail to yourself and specify when you want it delivered. Laying aside the relative transience of e-mail addresses, this is a fabulous idea.

Even more fabulous is that you can choose to make the contents of your e-mail public. Here's a few of my favourites:

Horrible News 

I slept with your wife. [think about it - Ed.]

hey 

Dear FutureMe, Today is March 3rd, 2005. Your condoms expire this month. I hope you finally got laid. Sincerely, Past Me P.S. if you didn't, that's okay... just jack off into them now before they turn to mush!

You're an idiot

Dear FutureMe,You're an idiot for filling this out. And you were wasted when you wrote it.

YOU BETTER HAVE A JOB BY NOW

Dear FutureMe, Read the god damned subject. If you don't have one by now, kick yourself in the nutsack.

Hey You

Dear FutureMe, You are almost 50 and are surely about to go through a midlife crisis. Don't be a pussy. Live a little.

The site's called FutureMe and you can find it here. I'm now off to compose my own letter...

Andrew

Letter to my 60 year old self

A while back, encouraged by Stephen (whose excellent blog can be read here), I posted a letter to my sixteen year old self. I've now decided to follow this up with a letter to sixty year old self:

Dear Andrew,

How has it all worked out? On second thoughts, don't tell me - I'd rather find out for myself.

There are some things that I hope have happened, though.

I hope I managed to sort out my finances in time to enjoy some travelling and make some sort of half-decent pension provision. I know you've still got 7 years before you get the state pension (if there still is one!) but hopefully you've got a bit more put by!

Are you still blogging, or is the Internet completely outmoded? It's funny to imagine that could happen, but then 25 years ago it was hard to envisage it at all!!

I hope you're happy and at least that you're not bitter. I also hope you still believe in "no regrets". As I've been fond of saying, you can't change the decisions you've made in the past.

I hope you've stayed true to your friends - you always were one for having few but deep friendships. I sincerely hope the ones you thought were lifelong really have been.

I'm aware I've used the word "hope" a lot in this letter - and that sums me up now, I suppose. There's been a lot of changes but I'm hopeful for the future. Here's hoping that in 25 years when you receive this letter that that confidence has been justified.


Yours, Sincerely,

Andrew


You can read the original letter to myself here.

Letter to my 16 year old self

Inspired (and cajoled) by my friend Stephen, here is a letter to my sixteen-year old self. Fortunately, I do not have a photograph with which to illustrate this piece.

Dear Andrew,

I am writing this from a distance of (very nearly) 19 years, although even just typing that seems strange. While an awful lot of water has passed under any number of bridges, in some ways it does not feel that long. In many regards I am still the same person as you reading this. Inevitably, though, there are many ways in which you've changed and many things I've learnt.

The purpose of this letter is not to tell you what happens, or where you'll end up, but to offer some advice based on what I've learned along the way. I've decided to pare this down to three individual pieces of advice, although there is much more I could share. These aren't necessarily the most important things I could share but they are things I feel you could benefit from hearing sooner rather than later.

Think of this letter as giving you a head start - you'll have to learn the other things I've learnt for yourself. If I do feel you need further help in the future, however, I will be sure to write again.

The first thing which I feel it's important for you to learn is the futility of having regrets. You will inevitably make wrong decisions and your life will, at times, move in directions that you didn't intend. When this happens, you need to rectify it. Do not dwell on what was, and what wasn't. Don't waste time, effort and emotion on regretting the decision made, instead learn from the incident and move on.

The next thing is to try to live within your means. This may seem hard, particularly with so many spending temptations and widely available credit, but will pay dividends if you succeed. Your eventual career may not be something you have considered yet, but it has the potential to pay well and give you a good standard of living - don't let debt get in the way of that.

The final thing, for this letter, is not so much advice as an exhortation - keep reading. While you may not have a TV yet, sooner or later you will. Other things will also invade your life and occupy your time. Try to take some time every day to read - it will help you escape from life's pressures, broaden your horizons and exercise your imagination. Reading has, to now, been a passion - don't let it go! Some authors you may like - and this is just a hunch - are Iain Banks, Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishaguro.

The next 19 years will not always be the easiest, and you have a lot to learn yet. If you take the advice in this letter, however, things may be easier.

Yours, Sincerely,

Andrew

You can read Stephen's letter to himself here.