Hey, you.
You – with the 3 papers, 4 projects, and 5 finals coming up. You – tearing out your hair, making yourself sick, and stressing out over applications, interviews, and achievements. This is the future speaking and I want to tell you a secret.
It all works out.
Listen, I know you’re scared. You’re worried you’ll fail and you’re afraid that things aren’t going to go your way. I’ll be honest, that test is a big deal and those college applications are piling up, but –
Listen. It. All. Works. Out. I’m not going to lie…you might fail the exam and (sorry), but also…you might not get that job you were counting on. Ouch, right? You might be really disappointed sometime soon, but I can’t let you believe that it’s all going to fall to ruin because I believe that you are so much more than this and your life is so much more meaningful than an exam or an application.
A year from now, that exam – failed or aced – will be a distant memory. Someone told me that when you are 80 years old, it won’t matter if you got a 69 or a 99 in some random Calculus class. I can say that what you do and how well you do it can impact your life, but – repeat after me – these things are NOT who you are. When you are 80, the sum total of your life will not be grades or awards. You are a person with value and a life outside of these things. Grades are important, but really they are not the be-all, end-all of your life.
In the end, you are going to mess up sometimes and I’m sorry that that’s how life is. If we’re being honest with each other, the road between the present and the future is riddled with mistakes and trials. You have to know that this does not define you. Like I said, it all works out.
Because it just has to. You have to work with what you’ve got. Did you bomb that interview? Alright, well try a new job. Did you get rejected by the college of your dreams? Alright, well you better make the best of your second choice. I’m so sorry that things are stressful and I’m sorry that you’re feeling crushed by papers and tests and projects, but don’t make yourself ill over something so temporal.
Life is going to work out because it must. The future is coming fast and it may not work out how you thought, but I promise that everything will be okay. These things do not define your very being and I promise that 90% of them will not even be remembered in a few years. Just hang tight. It might be a rough ride, but I promise the destination will be brilliant.
Love, the future.
