Comments on: A Letter to Myself in Ten Years http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: michael http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-556295 michael Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:27:20 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-556295 You did a great job. Actually I am from Beijing, I am a student, and my teacher is Japanese, he ask us to do a homework is about what you would like your life to be 10 years from now. until I found you litter, I have some afflatus about this work, so thank you!

best wish

]]> By: sexyback http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-272314 sexyback Thu, 08 May 2008 21:32:41 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-272314 who said you were going to be alive in 2018? im not trying to be mean but dont you think your alittle to old????

]]> By: Will http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-142650 Will Thu, 27 Dec 2007 20:29:30 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-142650 Dear 30 year old me (from 40 year old me),

I appreciate all the wonderful advice you have for me, and I know it’s straight from y(our) heart, so thank you.

It brings tears to my eyes to remember how it seemed like we had so much figured out, and planned, and how hard we ran on that hamster wheel trying to “make” things work. Only later did we realize that we were operating from a core set of rules and assumptions which had to be questioned.

Things have worked out wonderfully, but so completely different than we ever imagined.

In these last ten years the kids have grown even more amazing, if you can imagine that, and we’ve seen them try on so many different phases and attitudes. Yes, those early days are a blur now, but you’ll be glad to know that our time with them remains just as precious, no matter how grown-up they are and how much they change. Please continue to take lots of pictures, especially of the little one, to help us remember later.

There have been some extremely hard times as well, most of which we thought were unexpected, but now, reading your letter, I realize we did kinda have premonitions. Deal with ‘em when the time comes, and know we survived.

I’m taking more time to reflect nowadays than you would ever imagine, so we learned that lesson well! We would have done well to have started taking more “me” time a bit earlier than we did… turns out, it wouldn’t have slowed down our progress toward our real goals at all. ‘Course, those goals changed a great deal over time, but that’s for you to find out ;-)

I would only ask you to be open to the inevitable change which blows through our life like a sudden wind from the west. Determinedly sailing into that wind for so long was exhausting… relax, it takes us good places.

Thanks for reminding me what mattered back then, what our values were, and what a big-hearted guy we were! Wish I could buy you a beer.

I’m currently working on a letter to our 50 year old self. God Only Knows where we are and what we’re like then, but I’ll bet that SOB has some good stories for us!

]]> By: Marta http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-142515 Marta Thu, 27 Dec 2007 16:33:33 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-142515 What a beautiful letter. Thank you for sharing such a personal note with all of us.

This letter truly shows what really matters (easy to see during the holidays but is often clouded during the rest of the year): family, friends and love.

And I definitely agree with Laura, show your wife that letter!!

]]> By: Mário Marinato http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-141364 Mário Marinato Wed, 26 Dec 2007 02:31:36 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-141364 I have already done that four years ago. A friend of mine keeps it safe with her, and she’ll send me the letter when I ask for it.

Thankfully, I just can’t remember anything I wrote. The only thing I remember about it is its size: eight full handwritten pages.

I’ll get it back as soon as I get married, which will happen by April or May, 2008.

~ Mario, from Brazil

]]> By: FourPillars http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140530 FourPillars Tue, 25 Dec 2007 05:32:47 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140530 Great post – I like the advice about not worrying about the annoying stuff..(which I do).

Mike

]]> By: Meg http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140408 Meg Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:24:58 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140408 Sorry, it’s http://www.futureme.org.

]]> By: Meg http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140407 Meg Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:24:17 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140407 You know you can actually write your future self emails/letters at http://www.futureme.com. You can write to your next week self, your next year self, or yourself in 30 years. The site will then email you at whatever date you specify.

]]> By: Laura http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140157 Laura Mon, 24 Dec 2007 20:21:03 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140157 show that letter to your wife right now – at least paragraph #3.

]]> By: Sarina http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140146 Sarina Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:53:44 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140146 When I took a bereavement class after my husband died, we participants each wrote a letter to our future selves at the end of the year. The facilitator mailed our letters to us in the new year, about a month or six weeks later. I was amazed to get the letter in the mail, even though I knew about it and had written it. It was a very powerful exercise. I never thought about applying this same concept to any other part of life. I also never thought about extending the time. Thanks for the idea!

]]> By: Nancy Latham http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140123 Nancy Latham Mon, 24 Dec 2007 19:18:14 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140123 I love your letter to yourself 10 years from now. I am many years older than you are and from my prospective and knowing how fast time goes by, I would reccommend revisiting that letter every year. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Nancy

]]> By: Gayle http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140050 Gayle Mon, 24 Dec 2007 17:32:27 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-140050 Believe me ten years can totally change your life and in very unpredictable ways. On my 45th birthday, my husband and I were in London celebrating 25 years of marriage and his successful career. The company paid for the trip.

On my 55th birthday I was in Africa, 8 years divorced, with my kids scattered around the world. I paid for this trip, doing volunteer medical work. There was no way I could have anticipated this.

]]> By: Rob in Madrid http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139978 Rob in Madrid Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:57:24 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139978 you’d be surprised how fast time goes when you get older. When I was 40 my Dad told me the next 25 years will go in the blink of an eye. My wife turns 45 this year (ok 2008) and she wants out of the corporate world by 55 and I said you’ll blink your eyes and it will be here!

]]> By: Beth http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139875 Beth Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:54:55 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139875 i really look forward to your articles and topics, but this surpassed my expectations. The timing is perfect with the new year coming and the holidays right here now.
Planning to be where I want to be in 10 years, and staying on track needs something emotional and creative vision to get there.
Thanks for reminding us to dream, and I believe you wil get there too.

]]> By: Renee http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139845 Renee Mon, 24 Dec 2007 12:01:22 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139845 Trent,
What a great letter. It is alway so nice to see someone who truly adores his wife and family. Maybe people should write letters to themselves every year so they can remember why they married their spouse in the first place and list all the good qualities that they first saw in each other. After being married for almost 18 years, having a good marriage is not hard, it just takes focusing on the good and not dwelling on the bad/annoying.
Best of luck to you and you family. I hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. Your hearts see to all be in the right place.

]]> By: Kathy http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139766 Kathy Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:42:41 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139766 You can actually send that letter to yourself at FutureMe.org. Great idea!!

]]> By: Daisy http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139759 Daisy Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:31:10 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139759 lol. :D that was a great letter though.

I did this once and it was cool. I never thought about writing to my past self though. I figured she wouldn’t get to read it anyway. :)

]]> By: May http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139670 May Mon, 24 Dec 2007 03:52:12 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139670 I hope that when I’m 29, I will think just like you :)

]]> By: Amanda http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139634 Amanda Mon, 24 Dec 2007 02:18:01 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139634 Hm. We’ve got a seven brides for seven brothers thing going on here. Hopefully Trent has a lot of bachelor brothers. :)

]]> By: Emma http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139620 Emma Mon, 24 Dec 2007 01:38:36 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/12/23/a-letter-to-myself-in-ten-years/#comment-139620 Wow, I had no idea you were 30. :)

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