Hi 17-year-old me,
By the time you are cocooned in your sleep, I am leaving this letter in your study table’s drawer. I have traveled to your (or perhaps mine) past to give you this letter. Tomorrow morning you’ll be having a discussion with your family members about choosing a career after your intermediate. You might think why am I here to deliver a message for that? I am because you might be unaware of the uncertainties that are approaching ahead, or what decision opens which doorway.
I know you’ve been through a lot in the past and you’ve always kept your heads up — ready to fight whatever hinders you. You were always suppressed for your ideologies and beliefs that you hold inside. The people around you will continue to suppress the growing sapling inside you, and you have to stand for yourself — yet again — as you stood previously while choosing the subjects in your 10th standard. Just try listening to the whispering gut, it knows it all. It knows you inside out. Do not fall for moonshines compromising the sunshine that your gut knows. Nurture that small sampling inside you into a gigantic tree.
Your gut is pushing it hard to make you remember those perfect moments from your childhood. Moments so tiny in magnitude that you don’t even comprehend. Try remembering the moments when you felt soothing on doing or completing something — something that you immersed yourself in, detaching the entire world. Those moments are the reflection of the work you will do and what you will offer to this world. Find those whispering pure voices of your gut and listen to them, always. These voices know your path, your destination, and of course, you. I just want you to know about all of this early in your life; unfortunately, which took me so long to realise. The earlier you listen to these voices
the merrier. Why you may ask? So that I (or you in your future) don’t have to travel to your past to hand over the same letter to your younger self. So that you create a different timeline and break this cycle of ever returning letters that I ignored. Because you deserve a lot more than you can imagine setting a different path, a different timeline for yourself.
Godspeed!
-Ranmeet Singh