I received an email from FutureMe.org three days ago on my birthday. Futureme.org is a website where you write an email to yourself be sent to your email address at anytime of your preference in the future. I wrote mine back in 2006 and my twenty year-old self had this to say:
Dear FutureMe,
you should have a job by now and
lost a lot of weight.
if not, oh well
we'll try again in 4 years.
Even then I was funny. So I had managed to get one thing done, and you know which one it is. :)
Today, I decided to write back to my twenty year-old self. I also decided to put it up on this blog because it has been gathering dust and cobwebs for three years now. There is somebody at the office playing a soft, familiar tune on the guitar, which makes this letter I am about to write more mushy than it should be.
*clears throat*
Dear PastMe,
I hope you have the time, because this is going to be a long one. Hmmm... let's see...
I received your letter three days ago, precisely on our 25th birthday. I am happy to report that yes, you have a paying job! Yey! Actually, you have had 3 in the past five years. First, fresh out of College, you became an English teacher to a bunch of bratty young Koreans. Some turned out to be really nice young adults, took college abroad (passing SATs you helped them review for), and successfully are able to speak and write pretty good English. You will have a 19 year-old student named Soy, and your proudest achievement will be when she finally beats you at Texas Hold'em Poker (which she learned from you).
Then, you had a short stint at a Call Center company. Had met a lot of interesting people and decided you would never go to the United States to work. People there seems to be more stressed than anybody else you have spoken with. And it was also around this time that it became clearer: You wanted to be a lawyer. Flashback to the time when your highschool Economics teacher told you "Alam mo, ma-boka ka. Bagay kang maging abugada." You will not be able to remember his name, but you will forever remember how you felt when you silently muttered Atty. Erwilyn Lei Solito under your breath. Kind of has a nice ring to it, so you tossed your Nursing diploma and headed off to Law School. You also decided to support yourself financially through it, vowed to never ask from your parents to pay for tuition. You somehow saw yourself through that (on some really tight days, they offered helped and you gladly accepted it). Something you should be very proud of. You might slack off on some days, but your heart remained in place.
Lastly, you became a staff for a Nursing review center. After a year, the bosses entrusted you with management. Ah. You will never forget this part of your life. I will advise you to prepare your heart for a multitude of reasons. But mostly because you will grow in so many ways while you're on this job. At this point in your life, a lot of people will disappoint you, but a lot will touch your heart as well. You will learn that friendship does not equal trust and that no matter how much you cry, it does not make it hurt any less. You will meet a lot of wonderful, wonderful people. Some friends will get married, some will have babies ahead of the wedding bells, and some will still be as crazy as you despite being "adults". You will never be more drunk in your life than this time. Trust me, you'll need a lot of alcohol to get by. And friends, more importantly. Not a lot, just a few you can talk to and be crazy with.
You'll attend a couple of concerts, see the Azkals beat Sri Lanka 4-0 live (oh yes, you'll rekindle you football addiction), see a bunch of NBA players, travel a lot, get high and drunk some more, cry the most, lose friends, gain more, get a driver's license (finally), get addicted with Twitter, Facebook and your Blackberry, fall in love, get heartbroken, see your bank account swell then reduce, and be smiling most of the time even though there's a plethora of problems to deal with.
I wish I could tell you how cool you turned out to be. But you're still the same geeky, loud-mouthed, principled girl after 5 long years. Just maybe tougher. Yeah, I would say definitely tougher. The times have brought out the best and the worst in you. It will be a long, arduous journey for you. Prayer will be your only weapon. You'll lose faith on some days, but you always found your way back. Always.
You turned out okay. Despite not losing a lot of weight. You are enjoying life and everything in between! Do not fret! Your 25th birthday will be uneventful, except that it rained hail that day. Pretty cool, huh?
So yeah, life is just as it should be for you. You will probably write yourself in the future again, because that's what you do. You always hope for the best. You may not be completely satisfied with what you have right now, at least you're happy.
Love,
Future Me
