Dear 2016 Self
You are probably still basking in the high from the weekend that has just passed. You just celebrated your sweet sixteenth, alongside your mom’s fiftieth birthday, and your sister’s thirteenth. It was a triple treat as you ladies called it, and it couldn’t have been more of a treat for you. Your crush came out to celebrate with you, and even stayed on to party the night away – it couldn’t have been more perfect! In fact, you feel like the most popular girl in your batch right now because that was one heck of a party you just had. But do remember that in two years’ time you will graduate from high school. You will leave the magical playground you’ve grown up in and have always known. Quite a number of those faces you danced the night away with – you may sadly never cross paths with again right after that moment when you receive your high school diploma. A decade from today, the words of your Superintendent’s speech will continue to ring true, “[That would’ve] been the last time you’d all be together in one space, at one given time.”
That is, after all, the reality of growing up in an international school. You see people come and go. You’ve gotten used to it by now, and you are blessed to have that core group of friends – the ones who take up a finger each on your right hand. A decade from today, they will still be the ones ever so prominent in your life. Cherish them. Love them. Do not let petty arguments and forbidden (albeit puppy) love get in the way of your friendships. But you will, at some point. You need to, I guess. Because to love is to live, and to live is to learn.
You are yet to experience heartbreak. And believe me when I tell you that it won’t only come in the form of romance. Oh, but it also will at some point. Don’t worry, you too will have your “moment of regret after falling so hard. And then you’ll realize that you should’ve listened to your mom when she told you that the both of you were better off as friends from the very beginning – you would’ve spared yourself a ton of sleepless nights and pain.
Your biggest heartbreak though will be the loss of your life’s greatest love. Suddenly, there will be a void in your everyday life that will never be filled in quite the same way again. You will cope, and learn to live with it eventually, but you will also be faced with betrayal at the same time you are trying your hardest to stay strong – by someone nonetheless who you deeply respect and admire. This will teach you the value of loyalty very early on. You will become wary and you will learn to discern greatly. You will smell genuine from fake miles away, and will run away from hypocrisy as fast as you can because you will have no more room for small mindedness, false accusations, lies, and negativity in your life.
Do not stress too much about your grades. But do continue to strive high and work hard. At this point, you have enough discipline to get you through your academic life with flying colors, and into your dream school at that. You will get there, and then you will realize that well-roundedness is so much more valuable in the real world. From the pains of your past, you will move forward. Because in a few years’ time, when your heart is less vulnerable, it’ll all make perfect sense to you – you can’t leave a foot behind and jump right into the future with the other. You must take center stage and dance in the present. Otherwise, you will miss the very essence of what the world has in store for you.
Keep at it with pursuing your passion for helping others out, and furthering a cause. Little do you know that this is only the very beginning of what will eventually become a career in philanthropy. You are blessed to realize the ugly truths and harsh realities so early on – perhaps the very reason why people regard you as ahead of your years. This will be your very ticket in finding yourself and your calling. Consider it a privilege. You will have moments of doubt and questioning, but your faith will carry you forth, and prayer will allow things to fall into place for you.
You will crave for freedom, and yearn for your independence. But you have no idea that in a few years’ time, you yourself will be so lost in the sudden and enormous amount of liberty bestowed upon you. Quickly, you will realize one of the greatest ironies – that in fact, life can sometimes be much simpler with the presence of rules. You will wish you hadn’t hoped to grow up too soon, and then one of life’s most constant lessons will present itself boldly – you always want what you don’t have. You must learn to be content, because happiness is rooted upon and stems right from that.
You will wonder at times why so much pressure is put on you – by your parents, occasionally your peers, and most especially yourself. Use that pressure wisely and to your advantage. Transform it into a drive to constantly innovate and keep on going. You have no idea how much more colorful your life will be a decade from today. How much, people you haven’t even met yet will change your life for the better. In time, you will see that everything happens for a reason. Seek purpose and meaning in ALL that you do, for this is truly what success will mean to you. For every loss, there is something to gain. For every person that has walked away, someone better is about to walk in. You have your whole life ahead of you, and while fate (and intent prayer) will guide you, your decisions are ultimately yours to make.
And you will make some terrible ones. But you must suffer the consequences and stand by them no matter what. How you recover from a fall is much more substantial to your growth than the very reason you fell in the first place. Listen to others – to everyone who has a story to tell. But only allow a very select few to shape or influence your actions. Discern, and pray for constant guidance.
The rest of it I’ll leave for you to figure out. Heck, a decade from now, you still wouldn’t have figured out everything there is to know, anyway. Stay humble, and keep your feet on the ground. It’s the only way you’ll really be able to soar high. Remember to live a little, laugh a whole lot, and love only in wholes to those who deserve your love – infinitely, unconditionally, passionately, and like you never have before. Till your thirties, Your Almost Twenty-seven-yearold Self.