You know who rocks? I do, that’s who!

The following is a letter I wrote to my Future-Now-Past self on December 25th, 2011. Past-Past me knew I’d need a little encouragement before my first half marathon (runDisney’s Princess half, February 2012) so she decided to write Future-Now-Past me a letter.

past-past

All mes were/are terribly confused when it came/comes to tense. Which was/is apparent but try to overlook it.

Dear FutureMe,

As long as everything goes according to plan, you’ll be running a half marathon in the next few days.

That’s 13.1 miles.

That’s a long effing run.

Remember when you were in high school and they made you run the mile each year for the American fitness test? And remember how you’d sort of half walk, half jog around the track just so that you could just get it over with?

Remember how you were in shape until you reached a certain point in college and you became horrendously out of shape? Remember when you lost your shape and could no longer fit into jeans or shirts that you’d once lived in? Remember when you had to wear those gray pants all summer long because they were practically the only things that fit you?

The comments made by others were nothing compared to the way you felt about yourself. After Elderberry was born, you decided to make a commitment to yourself and your health. After Littleberry was born, it took you a bit of time but you once again made that commitment.

Why do you run when you don’t always like it? Because it’s hard. Because it makes the finish and the reward that much sweeter when it’s finally over. And because that sense of accomplishment, that sense of SELF, of being truly aware of who you are, is like nothing you’ve ever felt.

You are amazing and can do amazing things. At this point, you might be doubting us, nervous about doing something seemingly so BIG. But you shouldn’t be because you have this strength within you.

Remember that.

Remember to have fun with this, push yourself, and be the incredible person you’ve become over the past 34 years.

You can and you will until you could and you did.

futurepastme

Always,

Meridith

Want to write a letter to your Future Self? Check out FutureMe.org

If you need a pep talk, who do you look to? Do you talk to your Future self too? Or your present self?

22 thoughts on “You know who rocks? I do, that’s who!

  1. As you know, I’ve written Future Me letters before. I was planning on writing one for my first half! But instead, I’d like you to write it for me. Please and thank you?

    • I’ll write you some inspirational letters but I think that you should probably write something as well. Deal?

    • You DO need to write you one of these! It’s very cathartic. I’m planning on writing me again soon.

  2. That’s awesome! I wrote a letter to myself when I was 11 and taped it to the bottom of my desk to open when I was 16… I was going to be in Paraguay when I turned 16 so I remembered to take it with me and it was so fun to see who I had become and who I had thought I would become and to get that little bit of encouragement to keep growing as a person and not to care about what other people thought about me…
    You do rock! 🙂

    • Oh wow! I love that you waited five whole years to read it. I don’t think I’d have the patience. 😉 It’s funny because looking back at this now, it was only just a little over a year ago and I have so much more confidence in myself and my running than I did when I first started. It’s really awesome to see that growth!

  3. Past future me was fearful of lots of stuff but future past future me had hope and lived through it. Future past me is excited about completing my first marathon however present me is scared to death and past future me never even considered it. Well done past future you and future past you and future present you 🙂

    • Present me says thank present you! Present me is still pondering a marathon. Future me says YES but present me says, “Girrrrrl, you’re crazy.”

    • It’s especially awesome to get an email from YOURSELF. Because, you like, FORGET that you’ve written it and then you get this email and you remember just how freaking awesome you are.

      And you are!

        • That’s awesome! I don’t feel like I gave myself ENOUGH time to mentally and physically prepare for my first. 😉 I signed up in November for a February half. It wasn’t my most brilliant move but it was certainly a lot of fun!

          • Yeah, I imagine even though I have 6 months that I’ll probably still feel unprepared on race day cause that’s just who I am lol. But no better way to motivate my future self than with a reminder from myself as to why the heck I thought this was a good idea 🙂

    • Rock on! I know it’s nice to hear accolades from others but I think it’s really important to be our own biggest cheerleaders. 🙂 Have fun writing to yourself!

    • That’s a major bummer about the foot injury. I have a friend who just got “da boot” (as she called it) off recently and is getting back into the groove of running. I know it’s hard to deal with taking time off, especially when it’s not what you planned. xo

Leave a Reply to RunStretchGo (@cldem) Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *