Perhaps the boundless, or what I believe to be boundless, amounts of wisdom I carry with my younger self can offer some support for you as you’ve aged. Forget whatever it is you’re doing at this moment, and take a second to look around and appreciate what’s in front of you. Step outside and get some fresh air. Observe the nature and life surrounding you. This doesn’t have to be too deep or spiritual, but just recognize where you are and think of ways to be grateful.
The course you have taken to arrive at this stage in life most likely wasn’t a smooth sail, and I’m positive many emotions were felt. From stress to joy, to emptiness to contentment, and then circled back again 1 million times. You’ve presumably dealt with it all, and I commend you for your strength. It’s definitely not an easy task to live in this world, but you are doing great things believe it or not!
Moreover from the self-praise, I want you to use a sliver of your time to talk to your family. It can be as easy as giving your parents a call or maybe using whatever advanced “FaceTime” technology available at the touch of a button to speak with your sister. Whichever method you decide to use, please promise to spend some time with them. You can never forget where you came from and you can’t change your roots, so go back to them once in a while.
Anyway, I want to add some more reminders for your health and well-being. Taking personal days are always a good idea under any circumstance. Hopefully, mental health is taken more seriously by the time you’re reading this and you have the opportunity to utilize some time to heal. Physically, however, get out and exercise! Trust me, I know it can be a struggle to stay active while balancing a busy lifestyle. But if you’re having troubles, recall the wave of relief after finishing a long run. Or the feeling of tension melting away as you decompress during yoga. Anything that gets you moving sounds like a good plan. In addition, you can’t forget what goes hand in hand with exercising! That is, eating healthy and drinking water of course. I’m not trying to be your dietician, but I have faith that you are making decent choices and have formed healthy habits.
Moving on to less personal matters, what is up with the world at this point in time? Please make all of my science dreams come true and tell me that most cars are electric. We can’t afford those menacing carbon gases to cause much more harm to our environment. I can only wish that our planet has become greener because that is one of my greatest desires in life when I’m older.
I truly can’t wait to see all of the incredible advancements in technology. If all goes well, you’re not living in a horrifying Black Mirror type of simulation. It would surely be disappointing to know that the robots are overruling mankind. All jokes aside, I’m eager to see how your generation has caused major breakthroughs in medicine and technology. You’ve grown up with so many unique and bright individuals who will have undoubtedly changed the world.
I would like to see how music has evolved in your adulthood. Do you still play an instrument or hold the same adoration for music like you used to? I can only help but wonder if the electronic-pop music you grew up listening to in the early 2000s is seen as dated or cringe-worthy. I’m confident that it aged similarly to the ‘80s music you used to poke fun at, but that’s to be expected. I hope there are still genuine artists who have the raw talent to create real music.
The final thing I would like to tack on is a morsel of optimism. It doesn’t matter where you are in life, just know it will only get better. The adventure has only begun, and you must remember to keep your head up and keep trucking along. Despite the frustrations, you’re on the road to making your dreams come true. Life is a wild ride, but the point is to stop and smell to roses as often as possible. I would like to leave you with a cheesy quote from a classic ‘80s film. Just like Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”