A letter to my future self

Dear future me,

I hope you are doing awesome. As you may or may not remember, I am writing to you from the past. As of today, you are 23 years old, working and studying at the same time, going through a pandemic, and you have dreams which will lead you to a bright future. I am writing this letter to remind you of how strong you were during these hard times, how all that you saw was a positive side and how you kept yourself together at your hardest times.

Do you remember what kind of a world you were living in while writing this letter? Do you still remember what you went through? That is actually something which I am pretty sure that you still remember very vividly. The pandemic was spreading very quickly throughout the world and up until March everything seemed under control. However, things escalated quickly in March . The world went into lockdown, but you were lucky enough to spend it with your best friend and not entirely alone, as you were living in a foreign country. Spending the whole day at home, having nothing to do but waking up, eating and sleeping made you realize many things. This pandemic changed you for the better. You developed a healthy lifestyle, started working out, started loving nature, started to know the value of the things that surrounded you. Until now, you have come closer to the person you always wanted to be. Are you still appreciating the little things that you once took for granted? Are you still eating healthy and working out? If yes, then I am really proud of you. If not, girl, you better keep the tradition going because that is not allowed around here. Another thing, you want to buy a bike right now. Have you bought it yet?

Your biggest fear right now is losing your loved ones due to the pandemic. You have been living with this fear for a year now. Up until now, you and your family are doing just fine. You are all keeping the distance, masks are now part of you, you all keep a hand sanitizer with you. Let me tell you something funny about masks. You and your brother keep a mask everywhere you go, and the funny thing is that you do not take that off even when you come home because when you do, it feels like something is missing. Do you still wear masks by the way? Also, is everyone okay? Do you still live with the same fear even after all these years?

Going out feels different right now. You went out the other day but you came back home in one hour. You really took going out for granted. Remember when you canceled that “going out for a coffee” plan with your friends because you were too lazy, or when you got really angry that you had to go shopping for groceries? Well, that is not you anymore. During the pandemic you facetimed your friends while you were both at different places drinking coffee, and shopping for groceries felt like going on a trip outside of the country and not going to a shop in the neighborhood. Remember when you went two months make up free because all you did was stay home, and then you had to go shopping for groceries. You got all dressed up, did your make up, and your hair to go to the store. Ah, that was really funny and sad at the same time. Right now, you are not allowed to stay out later than 21:30, only in emergency cases. Anyways, how does going out feel now? Are you allowed to stay out later than 21:30? Did the world go back to normal?

Now I wanna tell you what is keeping you going. You are spending time wisely, you are working on yourself, you are enjoying life even though you are going through a pandemic, and the most important thing is that your family and friends are healthy.

A reminder. Please do not forget what this pandemic taught you; be grateful, love your life. Do not forget who you are, do not forget your goals. Invest in moments and memories. Also buy that Range Rover, you still want it so bad.

With love,

Old me

Makfire Shabani