If you could receive a letter from yourself ten years ago, what would you most want to read?
Probably not a list of daily work or how many films you watched that year.
You would more likely want to know:
- What mattered most then?
- What frightened you?
- What were you looking forward to?
- Who was around you?
- What did you think life would become?
These things are often more worth preserving than events alone.
A life record therefore need not be a long daily diary. Writing a letter to your future self once a year can preserve a precious slice of time.
Try answering a few questions:
- What were the three most important things this year?
- Who am I most grateful to now?
- What was this year’s biggest difficulty?
- Where have I changed the most?
- What kind of life do I hope to be living next year?
Then set a reminder to read it a year later.
After that year passes, you may find something interesting: some problems that once seemed serious no longer matter, while little things you barely noticed have become turning points.
We keep changing throughout life. You at twenty, thirty, and forty are like different versions of a person in the same story.
Without records, many thoughts and feelings eventually disappear.
Recording life does more than save memories for the future. It also helps your present self pay real attention to the life you are living now.
We cannot preserve every day. But we can keep the moments that truly deserve to be remembered.
Years later, when you open it again, you will see more than words. You will see a former self who worked hard to live.