When I was counseling at the school, I sometimes liked to participate in the therapeutic activities that I got my clients to do. This one time, a few years back, I had the kids write letters to themselves in five years. Looking back, I probably should have said 10 or 15 years. They didn’t really have good concept of time. Most of them will still be in the preteen phase, but they wrote letters regarding marriage and careers.

It was interesting to see how the kids’ imaginations would shape their futures. What began as a therapeutic activity for the kids got me thinking about my own future. I decided to write a letter to my own future self. And because I love my Confusing Middle followers so very much, I’m sharing it here.

Dear Future Aaron,

What’s it been? 20 years? How are you holding up? I hope things are going well for you. Or me. Whatever. If my math is correct, you’ll be 56 now. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you, you’ve outlived Dad. So, for both our sakes, I hope you’ve been taking care of yourself. At least, I hope you’re taking better care of yourself than Past Aaron. That guy is still under the delusion that we’re gonna live forever.

Did you ever figure out what you wanted to be when you grew up? I kind of hope so. It’s changed so much for me in recent years. Teacher, writer, professional blogger (like that’s really a thing). I’m in a good place at the moment. I love that I’ve come on full-time with Northstar and I love the work I’m doing and the people I get to see at the office every day. Is it something that I can still say I’m doing in 20 years? Honestly, at the moment, I’m just hoping it’s the kind of thing that they’ll want me to keep doing after my first year on the job. But you’ll know more about that than I will, Future Aaron.

Here’s the big one that I would get tired of hearing if I were you. Which I am, but I’m gonna ask anyway. Are you married? If not, that’s cool. No judgments here. If you are, here’s hoping she’s even more awesome than I’ve imagined. And you better be treating her like a queen. If you’re not, I’m gonna find a way to travel into the future and kick your decrepit butt!

Speaking of time travel, is that even possible yet? If it is, would you mind finding a way to send back this week’s winning Powerball numbers? [make sure this is current with latest jackpot before posting and date of next drawing] The jackpot is up to ???. Not that money is that important. I’d end up giving most of it away. I’m just saying it would be helpful to not have to deal with student loans anymore. By the way, the specific date for those winning numbers should be ??/??/????. Just give it some thought.

What about the whole writing thing? Did anything ever come of that? Did you ever get a book published? That would be super. How about the blog? Still keeping up with that? I have no doubt that you are. Blogging is a trend that will probably never die. And if it ever does, you better be the last hold out.

And what about running? There was a time when you were doing it pretty consistently. At the time of writing this, I’ve been trying to get back into it, but I really have a hard time finding the motivation. I feel like the motivation should be “don’t die.” But every time I run I kind of feel like I’m dying. Seems counterproductive. I’d still like to run a half marathon someday. Not sure if I’ll ever be crazy enough to do a full marathon. But, again, you’ll know better than I.

Okay, last question. Did they ever manage to create a Justice League movie that could rival the success of The Avengers? I’ve already seen some of the preview footage of the planned Justice League film, but I just don’t want to get my hopes up. You know what? Don’t answer that. I’m sure I’ll just be disappointed.

All right, old man. See you in 20 years. Take care of yourself.

Sincerely,
Past Aaron