Dear me: a letter to my younger self

Dear Me,

This is me, writing to you from the future. No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. You have a future.

Don’t deny it. You have wondered ‘what will I be when I grow up’. Well, let me tell you. You will grow up to be awesome! That’s right. No, I’m not trying to fluff with you. Today, at this very moment that I’m penning this, ‘we’ are independent, brilliant, and well, yes, much much more. There are faults; ‘we’ are not perfect, but this is precisely why life is fun and full of challenges, as you will discover. Not simply because one can learn from our faults and be better person, but simply because life is such an adventure. You will grow to love it, I assure you.

So my dear me, don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to even try. Don’t lose faith. For the moment you lose the faith, you have lost half the battle, and that is just not worth it. The important thing is you try and try your best.

From your time till now, you will face three major failures in study, work and love. Let me assure you, you were totally unfazed by it. A little downtrodden and emotional, for sure, but not enough to get you down, down, down. You quickly bounced back each time and faced the world by taking the bull by its horns. Your gung-ho and never say die mentality keeps you going. That’s the spirit, girl!

I know it was hard to face the first major failure of your life. It was very disheartening and you lost all confidence. You needed a way out, and that way was Perth. And you went with a mission – to make it back with a university degree.

The years spent in Perth were not a waste. Trust me, I know. Your gung-ho attitude stayed with you every second of the way and you did come back with a degree, and much much more. Five long years it was, but they will be the most memorable of your education. You will have the unique experience of studying in a boarding school, being a boarder, being the only boarder from Singapore, squeezing with three other girls on a single bed, and how can I forget, squeezing with at least ten other people in a bedroom and having to sleep under the table as a result of the crowd. You will enjoy every single second of uni life, hanging out at the Sir Walter’s Café in the library, trying desperately to listen to a ‘renegade’ tutor who treated everyone to wine during class, or just watching the world go by laying back in the garden in front of the library. There is so much that I remember and want to share with you, but I shall not spoil it for you. You go discover it yourself.

I would call the time in Perth your formative years, when you will actually bloom into a young, matured lady. Don’t worry about people calling you names like ‘thunder thighs’. You will prove them wrong. Many years later, you will surprise a friend’s brother at her wedding, simply because you’ve turned out to be such a beauty.

The guy you met there was a jerk. While the years you spent staying by him, blinded by love, was long, it was not a complete waste. You were deeply hurt, but you matured; because of him, you knew what not to look for in a partner.

Don’t feel guilty about not accepting the next guy who came along. He was nice and loved you, but he just couldn’t accept you for who you are.

And that led you to the love of your life. Someone whom you have known for a long time, someone who understands you very well, someone who lets you be you. I think you have an idea who that is. I will leave you to discover him yourself. Know that he remains your best and only soul mate, someone whom you will begin a life adventure with. You both may have your little tiffs and squabbles, after all, a marriage would not be one if it was all nice and dandy, but you always make up with a hug and kiss. And, you both have two very wonderful, adorable kids, whom you both love to infinity. You know deep in your heart, that you are blessed.

Your career is kind of like jumping hopscotch. You started out in the media industry, before moving to the dark side, to the public relations industry. You were retrenched for a couple of months, but again your strong spirit kept you going. You will be happy to know that your calmness and extremely high tolerance level will be qualities that your colleagues admire you for, though some jerk managed to break your demeanour once by screaming at the top of his lungs, over the mobile’s speakerphone, in his car. But like I said, he was a jerk to begin with, so I personally don’t even see it as s set back.

After almost fourteen years, and some months of being a stay-at-home-mum, you decide to make a mid-career change to be an educator. That path of life has just started, so I will share with you more once I have travelled further.

What I can share are some tips that I have found extremely useful in my life, which I believe you will too:

1. Never lose faith and always try your best.

2. Trust in yourself; you are the best judge of your own capabilities.

3. If there is a solution to a problem, then the problem is not a problem in the first place.

4. Stay positive, always.

And now, sing with me… ‘always look on the bright side of life, la la la la la la la la…’.

Now go and enjoy that cup of bubble tea. Till later.

Love,
Me

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