July
10
Dear Mikey,
Hi! It is Michael! (yes you will go by Michael when you are older) I am writing this letter to let you know some information to help you along the way.
Here are some helpful hints to get you along:
People love you for who you are. I know you are going to waste so much time trying to change things about yourself and wishing you were different but in the end you will learn that it is all those things people most love about you.
Never stop laughing. We love to laugh and there will be times when we will stop laughing. Remember in those moments, that you need to do whatever it takes to bring laughter back. Our sense of humor is how we survive.
You are going to make a lot of friends. Some are going to change your life, some are going to teach you life lessons and others will be true friends who stay with you. No matter what type of friends they are, you are going to have a great time.
I want you to believe in yourself. You can do anything you want as long as you believe. You will amaze yourself with all the things you will achieve. Never give up and just know you can do it.
You are going to get scared at times. I want you to know that you are not alone. Just as I have you with me now, you will have me there with you. There is nothing wrong with being scared and when you are, just remember I am holding your hand.
Make sure to trust your instincts. Your intuition is very strong and you need to listen to it. It will guide you down the right path. It is OK if you don’t, you will just learn from it and continue on.
Always have fun. You will do a lot of crazy and silly things. And trust me, even as you get older you will only do more. You are going to always enjoy living life.
I want you to take care of yourself. You are going to do a lot of things and sometimes take on way too much. Remember to always take time out for yourself. You will need to relax. When you get older we will be spending a lot of time learning how to do that.
There are going to be rough times in your life. Times when things aren’t going as you planned or hoped. You are going be betrayed by friends, hurt by people you love and deal with a tragedy you could never imagine. I am not going to warn you about any of them because you get through them all. You are stronger than you think and these events never take away your spark for life. I promise you the good times will tower over the bad.
Lastly, I want to tell you that I love you. I love you because you make me who I am today. I love you because you are who you are. I love you because there will be times when you don’t love yourself and it will be OK because my love will get through that.
Well, Mikey, get ready to enjoy life because it is going to be more fun than you will ever know. I do not need to wish you luck because you are blessed and you just need to be grateful for it.
Love always,
Michael 
PS. You are going to start losing your hair. GET OVER IT. Just part of life. What is more important is that you will NEVER lose your smile.
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JM
on 10 Jul 2008 at 10:32 am #
That was so deep and insightful. I think we could all take this as an example and write a similar letter to our younger self. It seems very therapeutic and I can already recite the things I would say to myself. Thank you for your great blogs and helping me to grow into a better person by reading it. Have a great day!
Michael
on 10 Jul 2008 at 11:34 am #
JM
I am glad you enjoyed it. It was a great acitivty to do. I honestly did it as a suggestion from a friend. He got a lot out of it so he thought I would too. I did it and nothing happened.
When my friend asked how it went, I told him I would read it to him. As I was reading it, I started to feel a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I had to stop reading twice because I burst into tears.
I am not one to cry but this activity really hit home for me after I read it. Give it a try and see how it comes out.
Becky
on 10 Jul 2008 at 2:34 pm #
I must be hormonal….that just made me tear up. =)
Will you write a letter to my younger self warning her about the poor haircut choice she made circa 2003? The one that makes me look like a young British boy?
Michael
on 10 Jul 2008 at 2:44 pm #
Becky
I glad to see you shared in my tears.
I will be glad to pass a note along. Hopefully it will save your hair from a UK invasion.
Cr8zDrgn
on 10 Jul 2008 at 3:08 pm #
Michael that was so touching. If I wrote a letter to my younger self, it would be full of warnings, but I have to keep reminding myself that things happen to mold and to make us the people who we are. Much like a sculpture firing and hammering out the metal to make a priceless work of art. I’m so glad and honor to have people like you in my life. I love to read about the people whom you help mold and I’m sure they help make you the wonderful person you are today. It is nice to see younger pictures of people, cause you can slightly see the man who the boy will be, and you can see the child that the man is today.
Michael
on 10 Jul 2008 at 3:12 pm #
It is fun to see younger pictures of people. Lets us see where they came from. It is fun to get to be part of people’s lives even though you were not there at the time, you know them know and can see who they are a little from the picture.
Jeremy
on 11 Jul 2008 at 1:11 am #
Good exercise. I’ve thought about this type of thing and done it mentally in the past. And it makes me think how my future self might talk to my current/present day self too–sort of observing your present day life from a objective, wiser perspective. Thanks, Michael.
Michael
on 11 Jul 2008 at 7:07 am #
Jeremy,
If it a try by writing it out. You will be surprised when you have to commit the letter to paper. It is a fun thing to try.
Karen
on 29 Jul 2008 at 7:51 am #
Beautiful post! It’s always great to read the wisdom the the Michael you are today. Thanks for sharing this.