Dear YOU,
I’ve been asked to write this letter today, just now. I don’t even know you, most likely we’ll never even meet.
It’s green and very windy outside and I’m trying, really hard to think of what to tell you. In these convoluted times we’re living, as ignorant and uncertain as I am about your future, I have but one certainty:
Only YOU are YOU.
Only YOU were born YOU.
With this in mind I feel I can steer in the right path and tell you what I wish for your future; what is that? Your very essence. The core of who YOU already are and will continue to be. If you want to.
Technology aside, for I have no idea how far gone this sphere will have transmuted by the time you read this, I’d like to concentrate on the only thing I’m certain about.
It’s not about what you will be or how much you’ll be worth; rather it’s about who you are. Shall we call it your true self, your soul and spirit? Labels and categories aside, I really want to impact on you that nothing will truly matter if you’re not YOU. That’s your life’s task – find out who you are and that you. Explore its evolution through time, it will naturally be influenced and impacted by life itself. Steer the rough waves of difficulties and sorrow, navigate the vast seas of uncertainty. Fill your senses with the immense beauty of the universe.
It’s a permanent challenge, an eternal strife for balance and harmony. Sounds too much? At times it will be too much. You’ll feel like drowning, you’ll be engulfed by despair. Those are the very moments when you need to go back to your inner self, to re-capture your very essence. Thus, you’ll thrive.
Times change and you’ll need to change; transformation is not only a forward motion, it’s an eternal weave of circles and spirals and loops. There will be times you’ll have to look for answers in the past, yes, the past. Our present is your past. YOU are our future, consider both; cherish your ‘now’ and project into the future. Acquaint yourself with my now.
You may ask, how am I to know which path to take when at the crossroads?
The key lies in being YOU. Be true to yourself and don’t lose sight of the YOU your were born as: always aware, always learning. Or as the 4-year-old kid you were in your past: inquisitive, alert, joyous, with a million questions everyday. Keep your mind, senses and soul open, child-like. Remain flexible to external stimuli, within your own context – this, I’m afraid, I can’t tell you anything about. If this doesn’t sound appealing or you think it’s childish, then perhaps you can look at it in terms of "shoshin" – the beginner’s mind where you can still find countless possibilities and knowledge is boundless. In this vein, avoid close-mindedness and oppose dogma. Stay intellectually humble and be aware of your own confirmation bias – listen, really listen to others.
Ask the important questions, ponder, analyse while engaging in debate with others. It‘s not an egotistical journey I’m proposing, quite the opposite. Any narcissistic propensities would drag you down. Yes, it is about being YOU but not in a void. In a particular spec end time you’ll live, with others. Your decisions, the steps you take or avoid will inevitably have repercussions affecting you and others. As a collective, all of you are as responsible for your today as we are of ours. Together, you’ll produce results, will set more change in motion. That’s life. Expect not to just reap rewards for this, there will also be contradiction, disagreement.
Dread it not, all this is part of the eternal loop.
Who knows, perhaps you’ll deem all this irrelevant, an "old-timer’s" rant. But if, in evolutionary terms, YOU are still Homo sapiens, it may make sense. Otherwise, discard as the delirious ravings of someone who thought of YOU and your future.
With love and affection and hope
ME.