Say what you’d like about this age of social media, but one of the things I love about it is having immediate access to new content from people I might have never come across any other way. Honestly that’s part of why I share about blog posts, podcasts, and other encouraging or thought-provoking messages from people around the Internet. There’s so much out there it’s easy to get overwhelmed, but I always love recommendations from friends (real and virtual) who point me to more good stuff than I would find on my own.
Recently I have come across a couple of posts that have made me think back and look ahead in order to help guide my perspective about current choices and decisions. One was a question author and creative coach Brian Dixon posed to his social media followers:
“If the you from three years ago could see the you of today, what would he/she say?”
While I didn’t actually comment on his post, the question immediately made me pause and think. Honestly I could even feel tears start to form in my eyes because fresh emotion overwhelmed me as well.
Three years ago (or even four or five), if you had told me life would be the way it is now, I would have exhaled a huge sigh of relief. Even though I still have many challenges and transitions in my present moments and looming for the near future, the way God has worked in my life through the past several years of change, loss, and other difficulties continually blows me away. His faithfulness and grace are beyond what I can begin to comprehend.
So if the me from three years ago could say something to me today, I think she would say, “Don’t worry so much. The road is longer than you think, with even more twists and turns, but God always provides, often in unexpected ways. So keep trusting, and keep walking with Him step by step.”
It can be hard to take even my own advice sometimes, but I’m hoping that even just writing it will help me remember it more deeply. I can often, like Martha from the Bible, find myself “worried and upset about many things” when only One is needed. I want to spend more time sitting at the feet of Jesus, learning from Him, and trusting Him to take care of me. He always does.
The other post along these lines that struck me recently was from Jon Acuff’s blog on The 10-Year Question. He asserts,
“Wishing you had done something when you were younger causes regret.
Wondering what the future you will wish you had done causes wonderment.
Those statements lead to his main question:
Ten years from now, what will the older you wish the younger you had done?”
It’s definitely worth clicking over to his post to get the context and the brief story he tells, but it was a good reminder that beating yourself up over what you haven’t done isn’t helpful. Rather, looking forward to possibilities while thinking of what your future self would want you to do today can be a helpful perspective for making decisions.
Personally this question is a little more difficult for me to answer, but I appreciate the mindset it can inspire, and it is a good filter to help with decisions. What steps can I take today that my future self will thank me for?
These questions also stir my heart back to the notes I took from a Bob Goff conference a few years ago. Over and over throughout the event, Bob exhorted us to simply keep becoming the next humblest version of ourselves as we grow and continue in life. He encouraged us to “let the person you are inform the person you’re becoming” and to keep having a conversation with our future, more humble selves as we make choices day by day.
I appreciate how God is using these questions and thoughts to guide my perspective of the past, present, and future. But in all the decisions that can run through our minds, I’m encouraged by this truth as well:
“We can make our plans,
but the LORD determines our steps.”
~ Proverbs 16:9 (NLT)
What peace that brings as we trust in Him!
I’d love to hear what these questions and ideas prompt in you, too.
If the you from three years ago could see the you of today, what would he/she say?
Ten years from now, what will the older you wish the younger you had done?
What would your future, more humble self advise you to do today?
Feel free to leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
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