Letters to Myself: Entry Sixty
Prompt: What did I need to hear back then that no one said to me?
A reflection on the advice I wished I would have received in my youth; however, the lessons I have learned are just as valuable; and if a young person is reading this, take these lessons with you.
Gosh, I love this question, as I do most of the questions in this series, but this one especially as I am writing it out, I think this is a good one to realize the implications of your life from your younger mind. And when I say that, I mean: when I reflect to the times of being younger, I was blind to the goodness of the world. There was lessons I was told in that time that I have still carried with me to this day, including being a good person. But what exactly does that mean? What does it mean to live a good and virtuous life? Well, over the course of the past couple of years, I have been learning what that means; especially approaching it from the historical people of the past. How they survived, how they gained knowledge over time to live better lives; but also, to help those around them in the eyes of these virtuous principles.
What I needed to hear back then was how to approach life at the beginning of my twenties. But again, I was blind at the time; I was living a life that was not well; it was negative and not getting me any progress. And as I have learned, getting better every day is a virtue and a courageous act in itself; ‘one percent each day’ as the great author James Clear says. And if you believe in getting one percent better each day, think of the amount of progress you can make in 365 days; much like the compounding nature that is this life. Again, the concept of compounding, I wish I was told about this in my youth; that this life will give you more and more each day as one survives. Moving forward and learning how to prosper each day as we age, another thing I wish I was told in my youth; or at least in a direct way.
Much of these ideas come from observation; as the human condition is always about how you obtain and look inward as we age; that philosophy gives us the guides on how to live the lives we want. I wish I would have listen or even been told that reading and writing might be the most important thing you do to document and keep track of the life you are living. The more one learns about self-development, this is a way to keep things stored, allowing for others to see your progress; much like we look at the greats from the past and follow their steps, to gain more knowledge since they left it for us to benefit ourselves; pushing us to go further than we ever realized. These guides are so important, which is why historians stress and urge people to pay attention; the setbacks from the past are being seen right now because we are not following their principles; or better yet, we can create our new pathway for those who are still struggling with something history is still repeating this day. And it is always happening.
Now, reflecting on this, it is good for me to realize that these are ideas I did learn over time; which is why we have to allow ourselves to have the grace recognizing that we didn’t learn these things until a point we were supposed to. However, fatal demise is always a possibility, and that is something we should try and not feed into because if we do so, it will continue us down the path of destruction and hurtful experiences. This is another lesson of history’s past that we can learn from, we just choose not to. And that is one of the aspects with this idea of wishing someone would have told me; that we will learn over time, and that those things we are learning do take a lifetime to figure out. This is a concept that speaks volumes for us because we have to note that while the future is unpredictable, scary and, ultimately, ambiguous, that is merely just thoughts of fear; instead look at it as the life you are continuing learning from. That maybe in 10 years you learn something new about yourself that changes or alters your perspective. And that is simply okay to recognize and wait for; but remember to keep the pursuit alive to get better and have that virtuous life.
History and reading might be one of the most valuable things I wish I was taught or even told at the time in the age of technology because that really derailed my growth as a person. And it is true, the example of my life is a true one for anyone reading; I was addicted to technology, and really honed in on the ideas of it, and yet, still do! I find technology to be a valuable element of life that any young person should hear about going into their future endeavors; as it is a piece or a tool like anything else we use to progress in our lives. But rather than be addicted to it, much like an addiction for someone else on some other vice, this technology addiction is something else that is really taking hold of many individuals based on the observations I have seen around me. And stemming from my own experience, breaking the habit of it, realizing how bad it can be for the mind, it would have been extremely vital for my growth and maturity to see this. That reading and figuring out the history lessons that often teach us how to grow and prosper, and even how to break that habit. We just have to recognize and break the addiction that is in front of us.
And finally, I wish I was taught this final thought as a lesson to grow and progress my life: which is to remember that one will die. That our mortality must be faced; to turn inward and recognize that each day we live, we might waste the precious time we have to: explore, build relationships, work on that important novel or screenplay one has always wanted to make, to ask your partner in marriage and establish that life together, to travel and see parts of the world one never knew existed, to expand your mind to the diverse individuals that exist all around us, to maybe going to that concert that one is concerned about going to. Living with the mindset of Memento Mori, paints the urgency of your life. We often love to wait around and inevitably think that fortune and boldness will naturally come to us; it won’t though, and the technology addiction I discussed earlier will only further your brain development down the negative route instead of the positive one. Living a day with this mindset recenters your attitude and makes you hone in on what truly matters. This simply would have been the best advice I would have received coming out of college or just starting my life. But right now, I am grateful for knowing this now because I am living each day this way, and it has truly changed everything for me; making me live a virtuous and clear life, with meaning and positivity amidst the craziness of this world.
Live today like it could be your last. Go make the thing that has been on your mind happen today; don’t wait before it’s too late.
This post is part of my "Letters to Myself" series — a weekly free-write blog where I explore personal growth, curiosity, and healing through simple prompts. Sometimes reflective, sometimes fun, but always real. Thank you for being here.
