I have always appreciated sunsets. Each sunset is totally different from any that preceded or will follow it. No artist can replicate the majesty and wonder of a sunset.
Forty years ago today I became a legal adult. I spent several evenings as a teenager sitting on the front porch or looking through my childhood bedroom window at magnificent sunsets. None have ever equaled the mysteries of those youthful end-of-day ponderings.
I had hopes and dreams the day I turned eighteen. Many of them have become reality. Some things in life have far exceeded my greatest wishes and hopes.
I am thinking today of what I might tell my just-turned-adult self if I could write a letter and send it back in time. This is not something new—the idea has been out there for some time, and others have written about this very subject. Nevertheless, I think I’ll give it a try.

Dear Ronnie,

You won’t believe this, but this is a letter from the future, written by you on the day you will turn fifty-eight years old. Yes! You have actually lived to be that old, and you’re still kicking, and pretty high at that!

Even at your young age, you have some regrets, two very major ones. Both will haunt you for the rest of your life. Don’t beat yourself up over them, though. You can’t change the past. They are learning experiences, and there will be many more. Sadly, you won’t always learn from your mistakes, but in many cases you will, and never repeat them.

I want you to know that you are a good person, but you’re not as good as you wish you were. You will discover you are prideful, and that will cause you problems, especially at times in your most personal relationships. I wish I could tell you more, but unfortunately you will learn from the hardest teacher of all, experience.

To your credit, you will learn as you get older that you don’t know everything, and you aren’t as smart as you think you are all the time.

All during these forty years, you’ve been something of a hypochondriac, most fearful of contracting “the big C”. So far, you haven’t done that. Your biggest health problem is Type II diabetes, and you don’t respect that condition like you did when first diagnosed. That just might come back to bite you—time will tell. You are beginning to have neck and back problems. Remember—there is a lot to be said for good posture!

I will address some of the things you have wondered about while you watched those beautiful sunsets. You will have a successful life, and forty years from now you will have an office that has a west-facing window. You will see some of the most gorgeous sunsets through that window. Unfortunately, you will continue to worry about many things that will limit your ability to enjoy these sunsets and the many other good things God will give you. That will be to your disservice.

You will have many wonderful friends through the years who will help you in ways you can’t imagine. Be careful, for friendship is fragile, and you have a tendency to be lacking in sympathy and empathy at times. This will be to your detriment. Be especially kind, for you have no idea how many of your friends will be taken from you much earlier than you anticipate. One of the best of these friends is your mother. She’s always “told you so”, and you won’t listen at times, and you will indeed regret that. She is wiser than you think. Treat her like gold, so you won’t have regrets when she’s gone.

You will visit the home of one of your best friends, and you will find this friend’s elderly mother writing her eulogy. She will read her eulogy to you and your friend, and the phrase that will stick with you always will be, “I have loved and been loved.”

This will also be true for you, Ronnie Mincey. Your “love life” will have its “ups” and “downs”, unfortunately more “downs” than “ups”, for you won’t appreciate the “ups” as you should. That will be your own fault. You will marry, and you will learn more about yourself in marriage than you can possibly imagine. It won’t be the traditional, idealistic “white house and picket fence” situation you are so carefully crafting in your eighteen-year-old mind. Life is not a fairy tale.

You’re going to meet many wonderful people during the next forty years, and many of these will be very positive influences on your life. You will very soon meet the one person who will do more than any other to help you realize your career goals. As you know, there are some you’ll meet who will be obstacles, but God is going to be on your side, and they will not overwhelm you. Be careful, and don’t underestimate those who would harm you to advance their own agendas.

I close with a few words of advice:

Don’t take yourself too seriously. Enjoy life, especially the many friends you will make.

Never forget that many times you will be your own worst enemy.

Never compromise your principles, though you will be pressured at times to do so.

Don’t buy a house with a basement.

Don’t refinance your house.

Carpenter bees, like termites, are more destructive than you think.

Don’t consolidate your debts.

Keep the Faith!

Fondly,
Your Future Self