I believe sometimes we end up getting so absorbed by the present moment that we forget every single other second in our life prior to our current situation. We forget all of the amazing times life gives to remind us that everything is going to be ok. Sometimes I hate where life takes me. It brings me to these low points, forces me to stay there and absorb everything but then in a blink of an eye everything changes again and all is once again forgiven. Come to think of it, life is one of the most forgiving forces in this universe. We mess up on a daily basis, yet every day we are alive, life gives us another chance. We are given a gift and get to spend our entire existence creating memories and learning from past experiences.
I hit a prolonged low point when I was 19-20 years old. To bring some sort of comfort and reminder to my present self, I started writing letters to my 'past self'-embodying who I wanted to be in the future and writing as though I was opening it in that given moment and it was from a future version of me. I felt like these letters would serve as a reminder that the emotional state I was currently in was not going to last forever and at some point, the current struggles would be nothing more than a passing moment in time.
I would set a date for myself anywhere in between two weeks to six months to reopen and reread my letter. Every time I read them I would smile, because my ‘future self’ was always right. Those letters helped solidify what I believe: There will always be bad days and good days, but never a bad life. Now, instead of being upset with a current situation, I try to embody where I want to be a few months down the line and write myself a letter from that person’s perspective. I recently came across the stack of letters that I had saved. After reading them all over again, I realized all of those stressful times had turned themselves into beautiful moments and memories.
Now in all honesty, if I had ever actually received the letters I had written to myself in those current moments of turmoil, I probably would have been frustrated. I would want to know everything that happened to me so I could prepare etc., but that’s the point of it all. Today, I reflect and realize that here in lies the beauty of life.
No matter what happens, we WILL get through it. Because when you get down to the logics of it all, each moment is it’s own entity. We only live it once before it becomes another moment. If we knew how the future was going to be, we would be spending every single one of those moments focused on the next one. We forget that sometimes we need to suffer in order to appreciate happiness, and sometimes we lose things in order to find them, because without a yin, there is no yang. Without life, without these moments, we would never be able to live.
Some people yearn for structure and normality, but honestly I can’t bring myself to understand why. Life is created around these beautiful moments that surround the eye of the hurricane. The only good thing about a plateau is you get a chance to reflect. My most amazing memories have been the highest highs and the lowest lows that were separated by the ideal normalcy. The profession I chose has a warning label that everyone discloses within the first few moments of meeting you, “Your life will become an emotional roller coaster, enjoy the highs and understand the lows will not last forever. If you want stability, find a corporate job.” There is a good chance I will experience lows lower than ever before, and an even greater chance I will experience some highs that will make whatever lows worth it.
I have given much thought to the path I decided to start venturing down and I came to the conclusion that I want my life to be made up of as many wonderful moments as possible. This means highs, lows and everything in between. I only have one shot at this whole life thing and I plan on collecting as many memories as possible. Everything situation we find ourselves in can be looked at as another memory, whether it's good or bad. So really, what do we have to lose?
I hit a prolonged low point when I was 19-20 years old. To bring some sort of comfort and reminder to my present self, I started writing letters to my 'past self'-embodying who I wanted to be in the future and writing as though I was opening it in that given moment and it was from a future version of me. I felt like these letters would serve as a reminder that the emotional state I was currently in was not going to last forever and at some point, the current struggles would be nothing more than a passing moment in time.
I would set a date for myself anywhere in between two weeks to six months to reopen and reread my letter. Every time I read them I would smile, because my ‘future self’ was always right. Those letters helped solidify what I believe: There will always be bad days and good days, but never a bad life. Now, instead of being upset with a current situation, I try to embody where I want to be a few months down the line and write myself a letter from that person’s perspective. I recently came across the stack of letters that I had saved. After reading them all over again, I realized all of those stressful times had turned themselves into beautiful moments and memories.
Now in all honesty, if I had ever actually received the letters I had written to myself in those current moments of turmoil, I probably would have been frustrated. I would want to know everything that happened to me so I could prepare etc., but that’s the point of it all. Today, I reflect and realize that here in lies the beauty of life.
No matter what happens, we WILL get through it. Because when you get down to the logics of it all, each moment is it’s own entity. We only live it once before it becomes another moment. If we knew how the future was going to be, we would be spending every single one of those moments focused on the next one. We forget that sometimes we need to suffer in order to appreciate happiness, and sometimes we lose things in order to find them, because without a yin, there is no yang. Without life, without these moments, we would never be able to live.
Some people yearn for structure and normality, but honestly I can’t bring myself to understand why. Life is created around these beautiful moments that surround the eye of the hurricane. The only good thing about a plateau is you get a chance to reflect. My most amazing memories have been the highest highs and the lowest lows that were separated by the ideal normalcy. The profession I chose has a warning label that everyone discloses within the first few moments of meeting you, “Your life will become an emotional roller coaster, enjoy the highs and understand the lows will not last forever. If you want stability, find a corporate job.” There is a good chance I will experience lows lower than ever before, and an even greater chance I will experience some highs that will make whatever lows worth it.
I have given much thought to the path I decided to start venturing down and I came to the conclusion that I want my life to be made up of as many wonderful moments as possible. This means highs, lows and everything in between. I only have one shot at this whole life thing and I plan on collecting as many memories as possible. Everything situation we find ourselves in can be looked at as another memory, whether it's good or bad. So really, what do we have to lose?