Note to my 17 year old self on the eve of my 57th birthday

Hey my dear Sandie,

I can see you now on the threshold of Class XII, anxious and unhappy, in a school you are a misfit in, wondering if you are ever going to be successful. You’re worried about the future, the kind of friends you will find and the life choices you will make. You wish you could see yourself many years from now, and see what you have become as that would help you decide your next few choices.  Well, unfortunately you cannot do that, but I just want to tell you that you did good.

You did say ‘yes’ to the right life partner – someone who will give you the space to grow without feeling threatened, someone who will take pride in your success and will always be there to support you in the decisions you make.  While your life will not be as unconventional as you hope it would be, it will still be far from ordinary. You will be happy – believe me, as you grow older, you will realise how important that is, and how blessed you will feel to actually be able to say you are happy.

You will have two wonderful sons who grow up to be very fine young men, caring about the environment and the world we live in. You will have a daughter-in-law who is a very special member of your family.

You will have a wonderful relationship with your sister. She will be a wonderful companion and you will become close friends. You will also have a very loving extended family and feel very wanted and appreciated. You will get to spend a lot of time with your mother, and enjoy the interactions with her. Her eagerness to learn, love for the fine things in life and her perseverance will be values you will  appreciate and imbibe, and your life will be more special thanks to that.

You will have wonderful friends – some who you have already met -  and luckily for you, you will have enough time to invest in these friendships and each of these friendships will be precious.   You may not become a high-flying career woman, but you will have done some productive work, and surely have a positive impact on many people’s lives. 

You will be an avid knitter, crocheter and quilter (don't look so surprised) and your family and friends will really appreciate all the work you will gift them. You actually manage to travel a lot (Paris and Angkor Wat being just two of the beautiful places you will visit), go on a terrific tiring but satisfying trek, so don't look so wistfully at pictures of the mountains. You will even run/walk a 10K marathon, thrice!! Countless plays and music concerts are coming up in the future, so you don't have to pore over the events pages of the newspapers so sadly and regretfully.

As you can see, life will be great. The future is not scary – you grow up to be a thinking woman with a solid head on your shoulders; if the head sometimes tends to drift among the clouds, the feet are still planted firmly on the ground so you will be ok. Don’t worry so much about your life ahead, and …. stop biting your nails!