Letter to my 25 Year Old Self

Dear Linh,

We don’t know anything. That’s okay.

It’s normal to look back on the past year and think so much has changed, but this is new. Every pillar of certainty, every cornerstone that the future could’ve been built upon, is gone — both personally and societally. I don’t know how to begin conceptualizing goals in this new reality, and it might be a while before you figure it out.

I know you always get restless around your birthday. All that drive and ambition and impatience, fuelled by an environment that rewards productivity and glorifies youth — makes it hard to be reminded of time passing us by, especially now. I know you feel comforted by control, little of which you have at the moment. Many things that have changed for the better just feel like grief, and the annoying part of grief is how resiliently it surfaces right when you think you’re through.

I know it’s been hard to re-read some old posts recently and be reminded of the conviction we once held. We thought we could analyze anything, that we could figure it all out — love, relationships, achieving our dreams. We weren’t naïve or foolish either, but we were young. The thing about growing older isn’t necessarily learning you were wrong; it’s learning all the other ways you can also be right.

Be kind to yourself. Forgive the reckless pride. Forgive the yearning for more. The best lies ahead, and the greatest part of growing up is meeting better and better versions of you.

Yes, we don’t know anything. Still, we are enough.

Love,

Linh (age 24)