A letter to my 10 year old self


This week's Write Over the Weekend theme at the Blogadda is to write a letter to a 10 year old and this prompted me to write a letter to my 10 year old self. Ten is a delicate age where you are no longer a little child, yet you cannot understand a lot of complex emotions. An age when teachers, marks, friends and the impression you create matters the most. An age that grapples with being independent and at the same time craving for familiarity and acceptance.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda 

Dear girl,

 This is your 30-plus year old self writing to you. You might think I have forgotten you but the truth is far from it. Every time I look at my present self, I realize how far I've come from being you- a shy, introverted, unsure and under-confident school-kid who'd be scared even to ask the teacher permission to go to the loo. Today, I am a far more confident person, more out-going, who has an opinion on many things, is not afraid to voice her thoughts, is somewhat sure of what she is capable of and is content with having her family and lovely friends to share her joys and sorrows. The transition, although quite drastic, has ensured that I can never forget that part of myself and today I wish you'd known a few things that probably could have changed the way you perceived things at that time.

All the threats about amma and appa sending you away to a boarding school is empty. They'll never ever do that. Though, you might wish several years later that you had got a chance to stay in a boarding or even a hostel, for the simple reason that staying independently teaches some important lessons of life that a protected childhood doesn't.

Marks do not mean much. Education means much more than all those red numbers on that paper. Scoring high or getting that teacher to smile at you does not ensure you of a successful life. Study well by all means but do not value your worth by that report card that seems quite dismal at the moment. It really does not matter if you are the teacher's pet or not.

The move to stay in a different suburb is going to change your life much more than you'd imagined. I know, you aren't really thinking on those lines. It's too early to perceive. This will be a changing point in your life where you'll begin to shed your inhibitions and form sweeter friendships. 

Don't worry about friends ignoring you for what you are not. There's still time for you to understand what friendship means and you'll have many more meaningful ones as you grow. You'd understand that number does not matter, character does.

You'll discover hidden talents in you much later in life. If I tell you that you have a flair for language and will do academically much better in your latter phase of school and college life, do not laugh it off in your head, however, incredible it might seem today.

The world will change. Quite fast and sadly for the worse. You'll regret not learning some life-skills like swimming and karate at this point of life.

You'll also regret not listening to amma's instructions to be more sincere, organized and disciplined in life. You'd shape up well later but you'd also realize that some things are best imbibed when younger.

I know, you want to learn to dance now and are unhappy when amma says its best to concentrate on what you are already good at. You'd realize much later that dancing does not come naturally to you. Age 10 does not let you evaluate your skills objectively.   

Even as I write all this I also realize that life is always viewed more objectively in hindsight than in present and eventually, things will always fall in place as a larger picture later. However, it will be in our nature to think about things that could "have been". After a few years, I might realize that my 30 year old self was probably not all that wise as she thought herself to be and would be writing a similar letter to her then.

So, be good and wish you the best,

from,
your 32 year old self
       

34 comments:

  1. O my!! such a tough topic...and U've done very well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow very well written, such a nice idea to write to your younger self, reminded me of a book I read recently - Who's that girl - by Alexandra Potter, it was a nice read.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. is it? I haven't read the book..thanks for the nice words, Lavina :-)

      Delete
  3. nice one Uma :)Wish larger picture was easier to see at that age.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. so true..but looking at the larger picture is difficult even at 30 leave alone 10, don't you think so?

      Delete
  4. Just thinking if time travel was possible, and we could actually deliver such a letter :). Nice one, Uma!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, we could've got such letters in time to help us out of tricky situations too :-)

      Delete
  5. Beautiful advice any 10 year old would love to have it!!

    :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely Uma, great advice, and only you can understand yourself the best. Very well written, loved reading it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you, Vibha..yep, its also important to wave the forgiving hand over yourself at times :-)

      Delete
  7. Enjoyed the post, Uma...thought-provoking...probably I would said many of the same things to my 10-yo self too.
    Perhaps we shd all write letters to our 40 yo future selves as well, and not just about our wishlists:) That might be interesting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know! that's an interesting thought-writing future letter- a test to see if we can actually look beyond the obvious now.

      Delete
  8. Ur letter is really comforting & full of common-sense Uma....how I wish I got a letter like tht from somebody....it really wd have helped:-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh, I wish somebody had really written this letter to me then!

      Delete
  9. What a mature and kind pen you have!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. those are such soothing words for me, Jane :-)

      Delete
  10. Aww... beautifully written. Wish I could have gotten a letter from my older self when I was ten. So many things ring true for me.. I was never the teacher's pet, I discovered my writing much much later in life... as for not listening to moms.. some of it I still regret.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. aww..hugs to you..and as for not being the teacher's pet, it was such a huge thing then and it hurt too, right?
      thanks, Tulika! want to read the other posts too on this, incl. yours but this marathon and other things at home has left me with very little time to catch with reading..will be there slowly :-)

      Delete
  11. Lovely post Uma .. Took me back to take a peek at my life as a ten year old .. Enjoyed the ride down memory lane .. Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. glad to know that your 10 year old self is receptive to your 30 yr self's letter! Mine would have made a paper plane out of the letter! :P jokes apart, nicely done!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hahaha..am not not how receptive the 10 yr old would have been, had the letter actually reached her! ;-))))

      Delete
  13. I've been here :-P and it truly was a WoW post. Rings true each time one reads it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Uma, what a beautiful idea this is! I loved it... Hope to get inspired to write a letter to myself someday too... :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. A lovely letter to a 10 year old, the sentiments expressed are a joy to read.Best of luck for the contest.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ah, such a sweet letter Uma and wise words you spoke too! :) <3

    ReplyDelete

Would love to hear from you :-)
Also, please click the subscribe by Email link below the comment form to get follow-up comments to your inbox..