Sometimes, we need to be reminded of what our dreams and goals were. It's easy to get so caught up in the moment that you lose sight of why you even started.
It isn't that we never knew what it was that originally fueled our fire; it's that we forgot.
FutureMe.org is a really cool website that allows visitors to write emails to themselves, in the future. The neat thing about it is that it gives you time to forget that you wrote it, then, hopefully, it comes to you at the perfect, opportune moment.
Today, I wrote my future self an email. It will arrive on this day, a full year from now.
Here's what it looked like:
Kevin,
What's good? It's been a while. Hope this email finds you well in 2012. I hope you're further along with your goals than you were when you wrote this email. Here are some specific things that I hope are true for you (should I say "us?") at the point in your life when you are reading this email:
- I hope you're reading your Bible more regularly than you are right now. It's something you struggle with. You should be spending more time with God if you expect to hear from him.
- I hope you're dedicating yourself to being a good father. I hope that you've read at least one book on the topic. I hope you're not making Kim do all the work. I hope you're emulating the great role model you had in your own father. I know you wanted a baby boy, but if it's a girl -- Love her with all your heart. She needs you more than you'll ever realize.
- I hope your relationship with Kim is better and stronger than it was before. Not that it was struggling, by any means, but it's a year away. You should have experienced things that bonded the two of you together. I hope you're still making time for her. I hope you guys still have date nights as often as you can. Love her. She was gifted to you by God.
- I hope you are closer to having employment that makes you feel like you are fulfilling your purpose on Earth. I hope your writing has taken off and that it's brought you joy. I also hope that if your writing has become more work than joy or if it has become a wedge between you and your family that you will quit and walk away from it.
- I hope you're still making "family" a priority. It's important that you see your parents and Kim's parents on as much of a regular basis as possible. Tell them you love them. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
- I hope you're still coaching basketball. You love basketball. You love coaching. If you stepped away from it, try and find a way to work it back into your life. It was always worth the sacrifice.
- I hope you have made progress on converting your finished basement into the "Man-Cave" that you wanted. This is a selfish one, but you should do this. It was one of the things that excited you about the house you purchased in the first place. Don't give up on this. You need this.
- I hope you're leading worship again. At the time you're writing this, you're burned out on ministry and need a break from it all. Don't take too long of a break. It's a gift God has given you. It would be a sin for you to not use it.
- I hope we're closer to having cars that fly. It's impossible to talk about the future and omit "flying cars." It's not even really that funny. It's just necessary to include.
What would your letter to your future self look like? One year from now, what do you want to have accomplished?
Comments, please.
