A letter to my 21-year-old self: Let’s go the distance

Don’t fret.

You feel like a failure now.

But these failures are nothing. You will fail in pretty much anything you try for the foreseeable future.

You will fail.

You fail a lot.

And soon that will become the best part of you.

The relentless pursuit of your goal will soon make up for the failures.

For that, you have to go the distance.

And congrats, you went the distance.

You feel like an outcast now.

You often dream of a place where you will be welcome.

You want a voice inside your head saying this is where you are meant to be.

You will think you have found that place many a time in the next ten years.

You will take it to heart and get swept up in tears as you find that the place was a lie.

But as you move forward, you learn it’s not the place but the people.

The place might change, but the people will remain the same wherever they are.

But to learn it, you have to go the distance.

And congrats, you went the distance.

You feel lonely now.

It’s only going to get worse.

You are going to get your heart broken more times than you can imagine.

Love will come close, jiggle hope and snatch it away right at the last second.

But, as you move forward, you will learn, it’s not just about love.

It’s about two people and there are things way more important than love.

Compatibility, Adaptability, and Forgiveness; All come together to make love, love.

But to learn it, you have to go the distance.

And congrats, you went the distance.

You feel confused now.

You don’t know if your views are right or wrong.

The world seems to be going in one way and you are entirely in the other direction.

Everything you believed in was torn apart and set on fire.

You have no clue where to go from here.

But clarity will come in here.

The clarity that views, opinions, and decisions keep on changing based on information.

Logic matters and it’s the only winner in time.

But to learn it, you have to go the distance.

And congrats, you went the distance.

You feel lost now.

You do not know which path to take.

You do not know where to go.

Your Job, Career, and ambition seem like a joke.

You will learn to create your path.

You will learn that no plan matters.

You will learn that there is more to life than money in your career.

You will learn about respect, value systems, and vision compatibility.

But to learn it, you have to go the distance.

And congrats, you went the distance.

You will go the distance.

You will learn to look beyond glory.

You will try to be nice but never fail to be kind.

You will learn to live by the strength of your heart.

You will learn never to be cruel and new to be cowardly.

Most importantly, you will laugh hard, run fast and be kind.

Congrats, you went the distance.