29 Oct 2015

a letter to my 18 year old self, from my 25 y.o. self

My 25th birthday has now come and gone and I definitely feel like I'm still learning about what life is all about. Therefore, I decided this would be a good time to write a letter to my 18 year old (more naive) self.


So, you're 18 now. That means you'll be starting university soon. University won't be how you imagine it to be: you won't meet 'the one' but you will meet some amazing friends who you'll be friends with for life. You won't enjoy clubbing and that's fine as you'll meet others who feel the same way. And even though you're studying an academic subject, you'll always have that niggling feeling that you're not doing quite what you'd like to be. And that's ok too - things will work out in the end; life's funny like that.

You've come a long way from being the girl who grew up in Scotland and then the midlands of England. Throwing yourself into the heart of London is an achievement in itself and something that you never had second thoughts about: keep this fearlessness as it'll definitely come in handy in the future.

You'll change as a person (for the better) and it'll be a gradual change. They call it maturing and you'll do plenty of that in your three years at university. You'll play more than you worked but that's ok too - you'll get the chance to do university again where you can make up for this.

A lot of unplanned things will happen in the next seven years and although some of them will knock you back a little, you always find a way to pick yourself up. That's because you have amazing friends and family who are there for you every step of the way. Life is unpredictable and you can plan all you like and overthink things all you like, it will always stay this way.

You think you'll have your life sorted by 25 and let me tell you this now: you won't but that's ok. And you'll meet many others who won't have everything sorted by 25 too so you won't be the only one. You'll be just over halfway through medschool but you're doing something you love and that's the one thing that matters the most.

* * *

Have you ever done this on your own blog or in your journal? I use futureme.org to write letters to my future self and it's surprising to read back to see what was important to me a few years ago. Priorities change and I've also changed a lot as a person if those letters are anything to go by!

11 comments

  1. Thanks for this post! We are so similar in so many ways. I'll also be 25 in a few months and i'm doing Alevels again to apply for graduate entry medicine. At 24 i thought i would be engaged and be with the man of my dreams lol! I'm single with an MSc never met the "romeo" in either undergrad and post grad. Sometimes i feel so low like maybe i'm flogging a dead horse by wanting to study medicine. It's been my ambition since i was 8 yet it feels so close yet so far away.

    I would tell my 18year old self. Stop planning, wishing so hard and just enjoy the journey. Be patient. Laugh more. Be more forgiving. It all gets better. 7years is a long time. But all is not in vain. You'll get there.

    Thanks so much for your blog. It's really inspirational.
    I also have a blog, but i don't know what direction i want to go with it. www.hercloseup.com

    Remain blessed and keep blogging
    x

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  2. Thanks for this post! We are so similar in so many ways. I'll also be 25 in a few months and i'm doing Alevels again to apply for graduate entry medicine. At 24 i thought i would be engaged and be with the man of my dreams lol! I'm single with an MSc never met the "romeo" in either undergrad and post grad. Sometimes i feel so low like maybe i'm flogging a dead horse by wanting to study medicine. It's been my ambition since i was 8 yet it feels so close yet so far away.

    I would tell my 18year old self. Stop planning, wishing so hard and just enjoy the journey. Be patient. Laugh more. Be more forgiving. It all gets better. 7years is a long time. But all is not in vain. You'll get there.

    Thanks so much for your blog. It's really inspirational.
    I also have a blog, but i don't know what direction i want to go with it. www.hercloseup.com

    Remain blessed and keep blogging
    x

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    Replies
    1. Good luck with grad med! :) Hope things go well. Some universities don't need you to have science A-levels for their course so just bear that in mind. Don't give up if it's what you want to do - there are people on my course who are in their thirties so it's never too late x

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  3. This is such a beatiful letter... I used futureme.org last year before I studied abroad in France. I wrote a letter to myself the day I was accepted into my program and it was delivered on the day I arrived in France. It was such a surprise to receive it, and it helped me feel better about my anxieties and such. :) I wish there was a way to send letters back in time... but I guess that defeats the point of learning as you go.

    Thank you again, I love your blog. Happy birthday! xoxo

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  4. the letters on futureme.org are so interesting !! thank you for the inspirational and motivational post !! xx

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    1. Definitely! It's almost like Post Secret but with longer prose :) x

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  5. Aww I love reading letters like this. This was so beautiful. Its really nice looking back and seeing where u used to be and where u are now. Its so therapeutic.
    I will do a blog post like this soon.
    Joanny
    imachoccakeaholic.blogspot.co.uk

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    Replies
    1. Futureme.org is full of letters like these - some are heart breaking but others are heart warming :) Link me to your blog post when it goes live :) x

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  6. Hi Angela, I love writing journals and keeping diaries so I can look back at them, I still kinda do this. Infact for my birthday this year, my cousin bought me a journal for life which I fell in love with at first sight. Have you seen this before? I'll be releasing a post about this in a few weeks, so i'll let you know when its done :)

    Jenny

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    Replies
    1. Oh wow - that sounds amazing! A journal for life - I can't imagine how big that must be? I get bored easily though so don't think it'd work for someone like me hehe :) x

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