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If you could write a letter to your younger self, what would you say? Have you ever stopped to think about? Is your life everything you dreamed it would be? Are there things that you would go back and change? Things you would tell yourself so you aren’t caught off guard?

Would The Letter Change Things?

There is a song by the band MercyMe called Dear Younger Me. Several artists in the past have tackled this question of what would you say if you could speak to a younger version of yourself, but this one has really caught my attention. There is a line in the song where he is questioning the things that he would say to himself and asks “Or would I go deep and try to change the choices that you’ll make because they’re the choices that made me?”

That line will make you think. If you had the opportunity to change things, would you? As for me, I wouldn’t. There are some things in my life that I wish I hadn’t done and several that I wish I would have done sooner. But, like the song says, if I had skipped those experiences in my life, I may be a completely different man than I am today and I wouldn’t change my life for anything.

I love my life, my family, and my career. I wouldn’t change anything, especially if it could potentially change the way my life has turned out so far. There are a few things I would tell my self though in a letter to me.

The Letter to Me

Dear James,

It’s me, yourself, from the future. Don’t freak out. This isn’t like in Back To The Future. Running into yourself won’t cause some warp in the space-time continuum. There are some things that I want to tell you; however, there are many more things that I won’t tell you.

First of all, your life turns out to be pretty awesome. You do many of the things that you always wanted to do. Your wife and kids are amazing and, I may be a little biased, but they’re the best. I won’t tell you any more about them because I don’t want to influence any of your decisions.

There are some things that I will tell you that will not affect the overall way that your life turns out. The first is easy and to be honest, I really should have this figured out by now, but I don’t. Weight is harder to lose the older you get. Don’t ever stop exercising. Help me out here man. Really. I hate exercising and I need you to keep it up. There are going to be days that you don’t want to do it. Suck it up and just do it.

Lastly, I’ll mention something about writing because you’re eventually going to love doing it. You have always been so imaginative and, one day, stories will flow from you faster than you can get them all down. Writing is hard work. Editing is even harder. Don’t procrastinate. There is always work to be done and sometimes you will have to make time to do the things you want to get completed.

Also, learn to follow deadlines. Life gets hectic and it’s easy to push things that sometimes feel extracurricular, like writing/editing, to the back burner. The more you push things back to do it later, the easier it is to push it back the next time.

Finally, just enjoy life. You can get so busy with life and work sometimes that you let some of the most important things slide. Have fun. Spend time with your family. They will be your biggest supporters.

Sincerely,

Me

Letters and Salutations

Thank you all for taking the time to read this blog. I hope that it gave you a little glimpse into my life and some of my successes, failures, and insecurities. What would you write to your younger self if you could? Let me know in the comments below. Any questions for me? Send me an email here.

If you have not ever listened to the song Dear Younger Me by MercyMe, then check it out below along with a way to download a free 30 day trial of Music Unlimited from Amazon here. These are affiliate links and I may receive some compensation from Amazon for purchases made through them.