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Tuesday, August 21, 2012

note to self

Since turning 25 I have had some time to reflect on where I thought I would be by my "mid-twenties" and where I see myself before the end of this second decade.
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So in this spirit, I have written a future letter to myself from my (hopefully) much wiser self

Dear Jessica,
5 years ago you thought that by now (25) you would be a “grown-up”, including a “real” job, a husband, and the possibility of children on the near horizon. But now that 25 is actually a reality, none of those ideals have come true, and you are (by your 20 year old’s standards) surprisingly OK with that. 5 years ago you could have never imagined yourself in school pursuing your Ph.D., living in Nashville, seeing your sister have kids first. But this is not anyway negative or complaining – the life you have made here is amazing.
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Do not put hard and fast expectations on yourself, to complete x, y, and z before you are 30, 40 or beyond. Enjoy the unexpected, cherish the detours, and appreciate that the life you have is your own, and do not ever sacrifice what you have to live the life of someone else (comparison is the thief of joy).
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Continue to pursue your passions – you are not happy when you are sitting still. Drink less, eat better, don’t sweat the small stuff, and appreciate that the ones that love you, love you with their all, even if it is in their own way.
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Work your butt off, and learn to say yes to opportunities that are scary but worth it, and no when your plate it full. Instead of dreaming of a “grown up” life, live out your youth, revel in you un-married, un-burdened (by children, a mortgage, a 9-5 job) 20-something-ness.
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xx
much older and wiser Jessica
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Too many great quotes that I had to throw in a few extras for good measure
What would you tell your future self?
xx
Jessica

9 comments:

  1. I love this post so much! Thank you for sharing... :) I love this future self idea.  We actually wrote a letter to ourselves my senior year of high school in a great books class. Our teacher mailed the letter to us 4 years later.  It was crazy to see that I was still the same person at heart (and my writing style hadn't changed much throughout college) but what I thought would be was not and I was okay with that! Anyway, thanks for sharing. I think I might have to write a future letter to myself!

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  2. Great letter, girl! You have definitely accomplished so much! :)

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  3. I love this!! What a great idea to write a letter to yourself, and what good advice you have. I love the idea of cherishing the detours. I definitely could work on this and try to plan less for the future.

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  4. this is great! everyone's path is different and each are good - it is awesome you are getting your PHD i totally respect that - i couldn't stand to get my masters, let alone my PHD!

    <3 katherine
    of corgis and cocktails // current giveaway 

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  5. I love this post. I'm going to have to sit down and think about what I would tell my future self. Thank you for the inspiration :)

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  6. Great letter, girl! You have definitely accomplished so much! :)

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  7. I love that this idea! You are SO right to enjoy the moment! I think too many people try to get certain things done by a certain age, which makes you just rush life along instead of savoring it.

    -Sharon
    The Tiny Heart 
    Enter my new giveaway open internationally! 

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  8. I love this post so much! Thank you for sharing... :) I love this future self idea.  We actually wrote a letter to ourselves my senior year of high school in a great books class. Our teacher mailed the letter to us 4 years later.  It was crazy to see that I was still the same person at heart (and my writing style hadn't changed much throughout college) but what I thought would be was not and I was okay with that! Anyway, thanks for sharing. I think I might have to write a future letter to myself!

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Thank you for your comments, they make my day!!
xx