A Letter To My Future Self

Written By Alwin Thomas, Singapore

Dear Future Self,

Hey! Hello there! Howdy doo! Yes, I need to remind you that you are still weird—that’s my obligation as your past. You are welcome.

How have you been? Do you still remember what you were like in 2015, other than utterly broke from studying overseas? (I sincerely hope you are much better at budgeting and living frugally now.) If you don’t, let me fill you in on the details.

At the ripe age of 22, you managed to accumulate for yourself a healthy sum of cluelessness about your future, a bountiful amount of irrational fears about your present, and a scrumptious platter of regrets from your past. Not exactly resume-worthy, I’m sure you’d agree.

Do you know how annoying you were? You were indecisive about everything, you were not willing to put your foot down, and you were not ready to take ownership of the decisions in your life. But do you know what your biggest problem was?

Your selfishness.

Oh, you thought I was going to go all soft on you and say something sympathetic like “Being afraid of getting hurt”, or “Always the victim of bad experiences in life”? Please, we’ve heard all those excuses before.

You were so selfish. All you cared about was yourself. For as much time you spent helping other people and listening to the rants and woes of your friends, you were secretly wishing in your heart that they would reciprocate that care and concern. And when they didn’t, you felt hurt and betrayed.  

I know this sounds harsh, mate, but the point here is: I really hope this realization takes you forward rather than backwards. Acknowledge your problem and work on it, but don’t beat yourself up over it. And more importantly, I hope you have found the assurance that no matter how bad you think you are or were, and no matter how bad your situation might still be, you are no less loved by God Himself. 

You might have once been a silly boy, so caught up with himself, his own needs, and his own insecurities. But I earnestly hope with all my heart that you have learned to sincerely love other people, to give of yourself fully, and to be committed to helping and supporting others as Christ has for you, with no strings attached.

I really hope that you’ve come to recognize how amazing God’s love is—not just for you, but also for His people. I hope this motivates and inspires you to simply obey Him and share His love!

May you never forget that God is the source of your love and strength. Whenever you feel like you’ve got nothing of worth to give, may you look upon the cross and remember the price He paid so that you can live a life that brings glory to Him and joy to yourself.

Yours sincerely,
Your past self

EDITOR’S NOTE: What would your letter to your future self be? Share your thoughts in the comments section!