Dear me, I hope you're smiling right now

Dear FutureMe, Heyo! How's everything in my future/your present? As the subject line says, I really hope you have something to smile about these days. Your 21-year-old self is very conflicted and a little lost, so I hope you've found some answers as you begin your second quarter-century. Have you done any traveling? God, I really hope you've been able to do something exciting and fun and eye-opening. Traveling is all I think about these days. Just want to get out, see something different, do something different. I'm about to graduate from college not really knowing (or caring) where my 'career' is going to go- but I'm okay with it because for once, I don't want to plan and schedule and worry about the distant future. I just want to think about the immediate future. And my immediate future involves doing something adventurous and foreign, finding myself, feeling what it's like to be alive for the first time...however that happens. I hope that you haven't let yourself get too worked up or bogged down by money and budgets, and have allowed yourself to live dangerously for a while - 'this is the time to do it!' everyone keeps telling me. And if you haven't found reliable travel companions in all these years, I hope that hasn't stopped you, and I hope you've had the balls to just go it alone. I hope nothing (including you) is stopping you from doing anything, and that you have the balls to do whatever you want, whether you have the approval of others or not. I hope you've improved on (if not mastered!) your Arabic, hopefully French too - next up, Portuguese??? DO IT! Oooh, and learn Russian! I hope you at least have SOME idea of what you'd like to do. I can't really imagine you being so confused for so long that you wouldn't have chosen something by now. I hope you're in grad school, 'cause "Dr. Martín" has a nice ring to it (hint hint) - no pressure! I also hope that you've found love somewhere in the last five years, because you've had a fairly lonely 21 before that. I hope you now know what it feels like to be wanted, treasured, and loved by another individual - whether it's worked out or not in the end - and that your outlook is a little better than it was at 21. Well, now comes the worrisome part - I hope this letter finds you in a place where you're happy with yourself and your choices, even if it's not what you envisioned. Nothing you do could ever disappoint me. Remember, I have always believed that there is no such thing as a wasted experience - everything is an opportunity for growth and improvement. So even if you haven't accomplished everything I may be dreaming about now (let's face it, I have a lot of lofty goals...) just keep on truckin'. The time WILL come. Even I believe that, and I've been kinda down in the dumps over the past couple years. I'm thinking that if you've accomplished and experienced as much as I hope you will have by the time you're 26, you will be a very different person than who you were at 21 - so here's to you, and me, and all the faith we have in ourselves. I know we'll be fine. More than fine. GREAT. Love always... me