Weekly Wellbeing: Letter to Self
Recently, I have been thinking about the life events I've experienced and what I would like to move towards. I know that some people say that the brain stops developing in your mid-twenties, but I don't think we ever stop discovering parts of ourselves.
Something I have thought about doing is writing a letter to myself.
Writing a letter to yourself can be a helpful reminder of how far you've come, an encouragement to keep going, or a neat surprise to find months or even years later when you've long forgotten about it.
It could be saved for a special occasion, such as a birthday or anniversary, some advice to past you from present you, or a message of hope for the you of the future.
Does anyone else here enjoy reading through past diary entries and reflecting on memories and how we expressed ourselves at the time? There is much power in the written word. 🙂
For this week's wellbeing activity:
Write a letter to yourself! It can be about anything you like. Feel free to get creative and use poetry, images, different mediums, etc. Share it here if you want, but you don't have to. If you do decide to share it, remember to be mindful of not sharing any information that could be used to identify you, such as real names, names of places, names of people, etc. Here are some websites where you can email yourself a letter.
How did writing the letter make you feel? Will you decide to read it again?
Comments
Dear past me,
Your anger and hurt was valid. People who were not part of your team, know-it-all kinds of people, told you your understanding of your own condition and treatment was wrong and tried to silence you from raising awareness of it.
But yesterday, although you come in for their opinion on another problem, you receive additional confirmation of that condition by a doctor who specialises in it. And guess what, they explain your condition and treatment to you exactly the way that you understood it. All the symptoms and test results make sense and fit what you went through for years. The specialist validates and vindicates you, explaining that your symptoms were not caused by something you were doing wrong but were actually part of the underlying condition all along. They give you a bunch of handouts to read about your condition and tells you to continue your treatment unless you didn't want to as in your case, it would be dangerous and your symptoms would return if you stopped it.
I don't mean to gloat, but you were the right one in those hurtful situations and what you experienced probably constitutes discrimination. You fought so hard to be heard and you're brave for speaking up and out. You shouldn't feel ashamed for knowing your own body and which treatment options work for you. Don't let ignorant people get you down and don't listen to them when they try to tell you how to live your life. They have their opinion and you have your truth.
Love from present me.
Writing this letter was rather cathartic. I feel relieved to have got it off my chest and saying those positive words to myself made me feel more confident. I think I will read it again when I want to remind myself to trust my instincts and when I'm dealing with difficult people.
I am happy to hear that you had a really validating experience. It must have felt nice and well deserved after facing all of that ignorance and criticism.And @hunginc, what a really lovely and powerful letter. Even though things have been difficult throughout your life, it sounds like you are determined to keep trying to create an amazing future for yourself
Also I'm loving the reflective and powerful vibe of this thread
Dear my past self,
You have come a far way and don't let anyone take that from you. Absolutely noone. Not family, not friends, noone.
You had a somewhat rough upbringing - not the typical affectionate and loving family. In school, you experienced rejection, were bullied by your peers, and you never really fit in. "Da boyz" was something you could never hashtag in a social media post as you never felt a sense of belonging in your group of friends who you just did stuff with, nothing else
You had an even harder time after high school and as a young adult in that, you never really found yourself for quite some time. But sometimes, bad things need to happen for the good to start. I'm sure you know of this and I'm proud that you never quit
What I want you to takeaway from this letter is this: You are different. Do things your own way. If you keep trying, one day you will live a meaningful and fulfilling life, even if sometimes it can be hard to do so with all buggage from your past that has had an impact on you
Present me
