letter to self assignment

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Why I Have Students Write Letters to Their Future Selves

A writing assignment they’ll remember.

Community building is essential to any classroom’s success. And, if you’re going to accomplish anything in an upper grade classroom, you really have to work on student engagement, especially now. This means that teachers have to dig into two toolboxes at all times: the “build community while being self-reflective” activities and the one labeled “OMG can y’all believe how exciting this activity is?!”

Over the years, I’ve assigned writing assignments to help build community. They’ve changed to avoid duplication of other classes and prompts, and this year,  I decided to have students write a letter to their future self. That’s when I found FutureMe in the classroom , which fit in both of those toolboxes above!

The idea is simple: you create a single page for students to type a letter to their future self, which the site then delivers electronically on the future date that you or the students set. Students only have to work in one text field, enter their email address, choose a delivery date, and send. It’s that easy.

Save time on your lesson planning

My reality as an educator, like many of yours, is difficult to describe right now. My planning time is booked from now till February, by which time I should be caught up on September’s grading! That was a solid plus for FutureMe. Once I started thinking about my prompt and how I wanted the students to interact with the site, it only took about 15 minutes to get everything ready.

Customize as little or as much as you’d like

The live preview captures what you see as you edit.

The site is intuitive. As you customize the page that students will see, your updates appear live in a frame on the same tab. This is especially helpful if you want to modify the colors, which I did to match our school’s colors. It’s also easy to adjust the colors of the text and the “send” button. When you’re done, or if you just want to see the student page, just hit the Preview link.

I set our work to private—only the students will see their emails (a few students sent them to their parents’ email addresses, too). This is a personal choice and it works for our classroom community, but you can adjust those settings with a click. You’re also able to choose between having the students choose their own date or setting it for them. For this assignment, I let the kids choose their date. I plan on going back to the site in a few weeks for a more formal assignment. For that, I’ll set the date for them. You can also choose to make letters available publicly by selecting which ones might be appropriate and interesting to share.

Discover effortless student engagement

I made a QR code for the link for the students to scan using their devices, and the site loaded right up. Once the students were on the site, they knew exactly what to do. They played around with changing the delivery date and talked with each other about the choice they made. Questions included, “can I curse?” “can I send this to my mom, too?” and “can we do this next week, too?”

An important aspect of any Letter to My Future Self assignment is this magical idea that we have acted outside of time—that a future version of ourselves can interact with a past version of ourselves, connecting old to young, present to past, and spurring nostalgic feelings. When the kids finished, they pressed “Send to the Future,” and it was gone, like magic.

Think beyond the classroom prompt

It’s great to have paper handy for those first drafts

Another plus for FutureMe, for sure—there was no teacher stuffing a letter into a yellow envelope with a promise to send on to a high school teacher or sealed and stamped envelopes stashed in a drawer to wait for a future postal worker. FutureMe maximizes student agency for a common activity, turning it from an old, wooden desk and paper envelope kind of thing into the familiar space of tech and social media actions. If you choose to make some of the letters public, you can expand the reach of the assignment even further.

Consider a variety of prompts to get students started. In each one, encourage students to think of themselves not just as students, but as human beings: sisters, brothers, friends, sons or daughters, creatives, athletes, leaders, etc.

• What is one thing you’d like to accomplish this year?
• Describe how you feel right now and what you enjoy doing.
• Where do you see yourself as a student in X length of time?
• What are you most proud of in your life so far? What do you want to be proud of in one year?
• Describe something you are struggling with right now, and describe what it might look like to have overcome it.
• Write a letter to give your future self some encouragement and love!
• How have you changed over the past few years, and how do you hope to change over the next few?

In future assignments, I will change the setting so I can read and grade or give feedback on them. The flexibility is important to me, and FutureMe provides exactly the kinds of focused choices that have a meaningful impact on the student’s experience. My students are looking forward to the next assignment, and so am I!

Learn more about FutureMe

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How to Write a Letter to Your Future Self

Last Updated: April 17, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Celena Hathaway and by wikiHow staff writer, Sophia Latorre . Celena Hathaway is an English & Creative Writing Teacher at Cornerstone Schools of Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama. She specializes in entry-level creative writing, such as fundamental poetry and fiction short story techniques, and 8th-grade-level grammar and reading. She earned her B.S.E. in Secondary Education and B.A. in English from Samford University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 513,904 times.

No one talks about writer’s block when it comes to writing a letter to yourself, but it can be challenging to clearly convey your message to future you. Whether you’re hoping to achieve specific goals, follow up on bucket list items, or give words of affirmation, your future self will be grateful to receive a letter no matter what. This wikiHow will give you ideas to help structure your letter, possible goals you can set, and language to use to prepare yourself for success. Future you is going to be thriving .

Talking About Who You Are Now

• You may want to choose an age that puts you in different circumstances than you are currently in. If you write the letter as a freshman in high school and read it when you’re in college, you’ll be able to see how much your life has changed and whether or not your goals have been met.

• When talking about your current self in this letter, use “I” language. When talking about your future self in this letter, use “you” language.

• Include information about your church, if you belong to one, or values like accepting everyone’s faith, or lack thereof. Add morals that guide you, such as always being kind, or helping others in need.

Addressing Your Future Self

• Do you enjoy your job?
• What do you do in order to relax?
• Who is the most important person in your life?
• What is your relationship with your parents like? How do they treat you and how do you treat them?
• If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

Sealing and Storing the Letter

• If you keep a journal, consider writing the letter directly in your journal and marking the page, or writing the letter separately and tucking it in between the pages of your journal.

• You might consider using a digital calendar (like Google Calendars), note-taking software (like Evernote), or a letter-writing website (like FutureMe). [11] X Research source

Sample Letter and Things to Include and Avoid

Expert Q&A

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Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about writing, check out our in-depth interview with Celena Hathaway .

• ↑ https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/self-awareness/writing-letters
• ↑ https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/diary-journal.html
• ↑ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-letter-to-my-future-sel_b_4522265
• ↑ https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/want-to-improve-your-life-write-yourself-a-letter.html
• ↑ https://medium.com/personal-growth/join-me-and-write-a-letter-to-your-future-self-514fa62c0beb
• ↑ https://www.futureme.org/

About This Article

Writing a letter to your future self can be a great way to look back on how your life has changed and find out if you're achieving the goals you set for yourself. To do this, first choose the age you want to be when you read it, which will help you decide on realistic goals. When you begin your letter, summarize who you currently are by including recent achievements and interests. After you’ve introduced yourself, write down your hopes or goals, like getting into a good college or starting a family. Once you’ve written out your goals, ask some questions to help your future self reflect on their life. For example, you could ask, “Do you like your job?” or “What do you do to relax?”. Throughout your letter, use “I” when you’re writing about yourself now and “you” when referring to your future self so you can easily tell the difference between them. For tips on where to hide your letter, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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A Meaningful Exercise in Self-Awareness

Letters written to their future selves can strengthen students’ writing skills and encourage them to be more introspective.

Casting a vision for the future requires first an acknowledgment of what the past offered and what the present holds. L.M. Montgomery captures this sentiment perfectly in her three-volume series about Emily Starr. The start of Emily of New Moon finds Emily having just lost her only living parent and moving into her spinster aunts’ New Moon farm. To soothe her grieving heart, Emily writes. In one of her particularly pensive moments, 12-year-old Emily decides to write a letter to herself, from “12 to 24.” She seals the envelope, tucks it away, and stumbles upon it 12 years later in Emily’s Quest as a young woman.

I was captivated by this idea when I first read the Emily books as a preteen girl navigating my own trials of middle school life. I had a hard enough time understanding who I was then, let alone trying to envision my future self. So on my 12th birthday, I wrote a letter to open on my next birthday, and for almost three decades now I’ve had a letter to open on March 24 from myself. 

It’s a habit and gift that I’ve tried to pass on to my students at every level I’ve taught—elementary, high school, and higher education. It really can be implemented for almost any subject and at any time in the school year, but I’ve generally looked for organic spaces for self-analysis and closure—right at the end of a semester or year. 

Explaining the Concept

When I first introduce the assignment, there are usually a lot of questions. “How do we even start it? What do we talk about?” So, we take some time to unpack the salutation—do they want to address themselves formally? Informally? Affectionately?

These questions have provoked interesting conversations about how students view themselves and, in some ways, how kind they are to themselves. Students are sometimes embarrassed to begin; they default to making self-deprecating comments and teasing others who look to be taking the assignment seriously. I remind the class that they will be looking back on this letter a year from now—how do they want to portray themselves? How might that future self read it? That lens often allows them more grace and kindness than they might normally grant themselves.  

We then talk generally about the idea of their future self reading this letter. I have them envision themselves a year from now—how might they have changed physically or emotionally? Do they anticipate being at a different school? A different house? Then, we imagine that future self, the one they now have fixed in their mind, opening and reading this letter. This is the perfect opportunity to dive into writing strategies such as descriptive writing or specific literary devices or strengthening sentence structures. I tell them that after a year of waiting, their future self deserves to read something well thought out, clear, and full of details.

Crafting the Letter in Three Parts

The body of the letter includes three different sections: the past, the present, and the future. Depending on the grade level I’m working with, we may spend one or multiple class periods on each section. 

Past: I encourage students to first think and free-write about particular difficulties they’ve had in the past few months. We talk about triumphs as well as challenges they’ve overcome. We also discuss any changes or transitions they may have just experienced, such as a new family member, new move, or new hobby. I’ve found that really taking time to reflect on and then write about the recent past affords them, when they do open their letter, some valuable perspective. It allows students to recognize the growth they’ve experienced, perhaps without even noticing it.

Present: Students generally have the easiest time with this section. We talk about writing about things that will serve as a placeholder or marker in time. They examine what currently occupies their life, and we discuss what those things might look like in a year. Issues that feel huge now might be much smaller in a year or, conversely, have turned into a significant addition or change in their life. I’ve often found the discussion during this section to be a good gauge as to how comfortable they are in their own skin. I note the things that the students have mentioned and observe how they sometimes carry over into other subjects or even the rest of the day and week. It helps me be more aware of their present context and allows me helpful insight into how I can better support them in specific ways.  

Future: This is the part that takes the most imagination and, often, encouragement from me. I suggest that they ask themselves questions—“How did the tae kwon do test go?” “Did you end up moving to Nebraska?” In pushing students to think where they will be in a year, it also rather cleverly makes them consider how they will get there. While the purpose of this assignment is not necessarily for them to plan their career trajectory or class schedule, there is something deeply valuable about speaking and writing things into existence, and there is empowerment in envisioning what may be.

4 Tips for Completion

• I never grade this assignment on content. In fact, I don’t even read it. I firmly believe that students need to write this letter for themselves and not for a grade.
• When we finish, I provide each student with a stamped envelope that they can address and put their letter in. (Obviously, there’s a chance that students may have moved within a year’s time, but that actually hasn’t happened too terribly often, and in some cases, I have been able to find a valid forwarding address.)
• Into each envelope, I slip a small note from myself with my mailing address and a request to write to me, if they’d like, and tell me how they are at the time they receive the letter. I have received many, many letters from students over the years. 
• I keep the sealed envelopes for them and mail them all out a year later. 

This assignment has remained a favorite among my students, and in my experience, it’s a worthwhile endeavor with meaningful end results.

Writing a Letter to Your Future Self: Benefits, Guide, and Template

Writing a letter to our future selves is a simple yet profound practice that has the power to transform our lives.

 This act of self-expression serves as a conduit to our innermost thoughts, allowing us to capture our hopes, fears, and desires in a tangible form. By embarking on this journey of self-reflection, we open ourselves up to the possibility of profound personal growth and positive change. In this article, we delve into the remarkable impact of writing a letter to your future self and explore how this practice can shape the trajectory of your life.

3 Reasons to Write a Letter to Your Future Self: Benefits

1. reflection and self-awareness.

Writing a letter to your future self provides a unique opportunity for reflection and self-awareness. By capturing your current thoughts, emotions, and experiences, you gain insight into who you are at this moment in time. This act of self-reflection allows you to understand your desires, fears, and motivations, enabling you to navigate your life with greater clarity and purpose.

2. Goal Setting and Intentions

One of the remarkable benefits of writing a letter to your future self is the ability to set clear goals and intentions. As you pen your thoughts, dreams, and aspirations, you articulate your vision for the future. This goal-setting process helps you identify what truly matters to you and creates a roadmap for achieving your desired outcomes. The act of writing down your goals significantly increases your commitment to them, making you more likely to take the necessary steps to turn them into reality.

3. Personal Growth and Transformation

Revisiting the letter to your future self allows you to witness your personal growth and transformation over time. Months or even years later, as you open the letter, you gain a fresh perspective on your past self. You can celebrate the progress you've made, acknowledge the challenges you've overcome, and recognize the person you've become. This powerful reminder of your resilience and personal evolution serves as motivation to continue growing and striving toward your dreams.

How to Write a Letter to Your Future Self

Choose a meaningful timeframe.

Select a timeframe for your letter that aligns with your goals. You may opt for a year, five years, or even a decade into the future. Consider both long-term and short-term perspectives to capture different aspects of your life journey.

Find a Quiet and Inspiring Environment

Create a calm and distraction-free space for writing your letter. Find a place that inspires you and allows your thoughts to flow freely. Consider incorporating elements such as soothing music, scented candles, or natural surroundings to enhance your creativity and introspection.

Reflect on Your Current State

Take the time to reflect on your current thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Explore your strengths, weaknesses, and areas for growth. Use this opportunity to gain clarity about what you want to achieve and the person you want to become.

Set Clear Goals and Intentions

Define specific goals and aspirations in your letter. Be clear about what you want to accomplish and the steps you plan to take to achieve them. Write down your intentions with conviction, and visualize the future you desire.

Express Your Emotions and Dreams

Let your emotions flow onto the paper. Be authentic and vulnerable as you share your hopes, fears, and dreams. Use this letter as a safe space to express yourself fully and honestly.

In the TED video below, Meg Jay shares the essential questions to ask your future self thus enabling your present and future to align so you can start achieving your goals.

Use the ‘GROW’ Template for Writing To Your Future Self

G - Gratitude and Reflection

R - Realizations and Lessons Learned

O - Outlook and Aspirations

W - Wishes and Dreams

Now let's break down each step of the acronym:

G - Gratitude and Reflection:

Express gratitude for the experiences, people, and opportunities that have shaped your life. Reflect on the positive aspects and milestones you have achieved. Acknowledge the blessings and lessons you have received along the way.

R - Realizations and Lessons Learned:

Share the realizations you have had about yourself, others, and the world around you. Reflect on the lessons you have learned from various experiences and challenges. Discuss how these insights have impacted your growth and understanding.

O - Outlook and Aspirations:

Describe your current outlook on life and the future. Share your aspirations and goals for personal and professional development. Discuss the vision you have for yourself and the steps you plan to take to achieve it.

W - Wishes and Dreams:

Articulate your wishes and dreams for the future. Share the things you hope to experience, the places you want to visit, or the achievements you aspire to. Express your deepest desires and the possibilities you envision for yourself.

By following the "GROW" acronym, you can structure your letter to your future self, covering gratitude and reflection, realizations and lessons learned, outlook and aspirations, as well as wishes and dreams. This framework allows you to reflect on your journey, express your aspirations, and inspire your future self.

Revisiting Your Letter

Timing and frequency.

Decide when and how often you will open the letter to your future self. Give yourself enough time to grow and experience life before revisiting it. Some choose to open it on a specific date or milestone, while others prefer to keep it sealed for several years.

Reflection and Assessment

As you read your letter, reflect on the goals and intentions you set. Assess your progress, achievements, and the lessons you have learned along the way. Celebrate your successes and use any setbacks as opportunities for growth and course correction.

Adjusting and Realigning

Based on your newfound insights, make adjustments and realign your path as needed. Goals may change, and priorities may shift over time. Use the letter as a guide to navigate your journey and stay connected to your authentic self.

Writing a letter to your future self is a powerful practice that invites self-reflection, goal-setting, and personal growth. It allows you to capture the essence of who you are today and provides a glimpse into the person you aspire to become. Embrace this transformative journey of self-discovery, and let the act of writing guide you toward a future filled with purpose, fulfillment, and growth. So take some time to sit down and put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and send a message to the person you hope to become.

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How to Write a Letter to Your Future Self (with an Example)

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“ Dear future me , I’d love to remind you not to grow old.” These words were written quite boldly in one of my first future self letters . I didn’t have a letter to future self example to work off at the time, but I instinctively knew I wanted to discuss the things that scared me with my future self. 

Perhaps the assumption is that your future self will be wiser and more readily know how to handle your current worries , or maybe it’s important to remind your future self that you didn’t know now what you will know then.  

Either way, a future self letter is a vital tool for self-development and personal growth. It can also be a great giggle in a few years’ time when you read your thoughts and fears of today and realize you worried about things that didn’t happen. 

With my future self letters, I set goals , tracking my progress at different future dates, revising, and growing. What will your future self letter contain?

Table of Contents

The When, Where, and Why of Writing a Letter to Your Future Self

A letter to your future self is a record of your life right now , creating a document you can reflect on when you have traveled a few years down the line. It also gives you a way to reflect on your life right now and consider how it will appear in the future. 

I always loved the line from The Terminator , where one waitress tells the other, “ Look at it this way: in 100 years, who’s going to care ? ” A future self letter is about your current self wondering whether anyone will care about things in a decade, or when you’re 50, 60, or older. 

Future self letters are also about capturing special moments or pivotal experiences, so you won’t forget these in the future. Getting the job of your dreams only to quit it a day later because you realize other things matter more may be an example of a “future self letter moment.”

You can write a future self letter anytime, whenever you need to capture some important information or leave a bit of wisdom for yourself in the near future. The where of a future self letter may depend on the situations you experience and what you desire. You may be struck by inspiration while on your morning commute. Whenever an opportunity arises to write to your future self, you should take hold of it with both hands. 

Every person’s “why” of writing depends on what they experience and how they interpret their experiences in life. You may want to write to your future self to be heard , seen , and understood . Or you may write your future self letter to maintain a forward-facing attitude in life. Future self letters can also help you deal with issues and accept that not all worries will come true (in fact, most won’t). 

Pros and Cons of a Future Self Letter

There are several pros and cons to writing future self letters. Let’s consider the pros first:

• It allows you to reflect and remember.
• It brings planning into your control.
• It helps to place life in perspective . 
• It shares your daily legacy and records your growth .
• It develops forward thinking instead of only focusing on the now (and the now can be totally overwhelming).

When you write future self letters, there are also a few cons to keep in mind :

• You can become fixated on your future self , forgetting to live in the now.
• Procrastination can worsen when you try to write a “perfect” future self letter—and the point is to just write one (no matter what’s in it).
• You may try to make your life “epic,” forgetting that your life is unique and amazing as it is, so don’t dress up your life—just be you. 

Writing a Letter to Your Future Self: Step by Step

Ready to write your first future self letter ? It can be quite intimidating to know where to start. You may not even know what to put into the letter, and are you supposed to read the letter again, or do you bury it in a dated envelope like some secret mission instructions? 

Here are a few steps to help you get started with writing your future self letters and demystify the process: 

1. Decide on Frequency and Reasons for Writing Your Future Self Letters

Before you put pen to paper, decide why you are writing to your future self. Are you hoping to remind yourself of things happening now for when you are living in the future? Perhaps you want to spread gratitude for something special a decade or more from now? 

Whatever your reason for writing to your future self, it’s helpful to know why you write as you can then identify topics you want to write about. 

Also, decide whether your future self will actually read these letters , and when would you like the future you to read them? Perhaps you want to date each letter to a specific age or date you will reach in the future? 

Try this: On a blank page, with no lines, create a spider-diagram where you start with “why” and branch out to reasons why: to remember , to celebrate , to caution , to ask , to feel less alone, and more. 

2. Pick a Medium to Write the Letter

Believe it or not, but how you write the letter (either on paper or digitally) will have a significant influence on the writing process. 

Digital letters are less personal, but you can add images , voice notes , and videos to make these more interactive. Handwritten letters have personality and show how you were feeling at the time of writing the letter. There’s something deeply personal about writing each letter by hand. 

Try this: Why not have the best of both worlds by writing by hand and then scanning these letters to your computer so you can add images , voice notes, and more?

3. Decide on Contents and Your Future Self Age

For the sake of clarity and to avoid letters that ramble on endlessly, choose a few topics to add to a letter. I try not to write about more than two or three topics per letter to keep things as clear as possible. I may also use creative headings to help split where one topic begins and another ends. 

While topic headings are typical tactics used by content writers for Google, you can borrow a leaf out of their book to keep your letter clear . A list of some topics you can write about includes:

• Events 
• Feelings 
• Friends and enemies 
• Animals or pets
• The news 
• Lessons learned 
• Your health 
• Spirituality 
• Hobbies 
• Relaxation 
• Favorites 
• Decisions you’ve made
• Global issues such as climate change and how you are trying to stop this
• Finances 
• Forgiveness 

4. Keep It Real and Authentic 

Your future self letter shouldn’t be too formal. Try to assume the tone of voice that is normal for a good friend to use. You want your future self to want to read your letter , so keep it interesting and light without seeming to be pretending. 

Your future self needs to believe you , so keep it real . You can also write every morning , like a journal to your future self if that works best for you.

Try this: When you have finished your future self letter, try reading it aloud and noting your body’s reactions to the sound of your voice and the words you speak. If your letter sounds like you are speaking to an audience, it’s not written for your future self. This is an honest and open discussion, not an Oscars speech. 

5. Use Reflective Questions 

The secret to any speech or talk is to establish a connection.  Using reflective questions , words and associations, and real tasks are preserved for your future self to continue your introspection.

Try this: Ask questions like:

• Do you remember when …
• How did you …
• Was it always like this …
• Have you forgotten about …

6. Don’t Forget Gratitude and Compassion

When you cultivate the attitude of gratitude , you create powerful forces in your future , namely positivity and creativity. Gratitude is often reduced to a simple word—“Thanks”—when you really need to practice gratitude daily. 

Letters of gratitude also help remind you of all you have to be thankful for now and in the future. 

Having compassion with your future self is also about having self-compassion, which is something most of us desperately lack. Take the opportunity of your letter to record your understanding of your future self and reflect on why you need to be more kind to yourself. 

Try this: Write down what you do each day to show your gratitude for things that happen in your life. Some of us respond better to visual stimuli , so take a day to photograph all the things , moments, exchanges , and people you are grateful for having in your life.  

7. Future Self Example 

Dear Sara,  Hope you are doing well.  It’s New Year’s Eve, and as I write this letter, the fireworks and rowdy singing of the neighbors echo across the neighborhood. This year, I chose to spend the holidays alone , not traveling to my family for the first time. I wanted time for reflection and to find more inner peace.  I’ve discovered this year that there are too many people in my life who are here simply in a transactional nature , leaching time from me. Do you still find people like that? Have you stuck to the plan I’ve made today to only have people in your (my) life who reciprocate with love and kindness?   My spiritual journey this year has been huge, and I wish I could share it with someone. Are you still on the path of enlightenment , or have you given up and returned to easier roads where you know exactly what to do and what lies ahead? Of course, there’s nothing wrong with returning to your previous beliefs, but I do hope you stayed the course and have really discovered your own inner light. How has your health been? Have the yoga sessions I started this year helped? I really didn’t like feeling so tired and lethargic this year, so I hope you followed through and kept up the stretching. It’s not always easy to keep doing physical exercise when you’re tired, but I know you can do it and succeed in completing the yoga classes.  I have to talk to you about Ben and our relationship. Lately, Ben has been very clingy and needy, and I feel stifled . While I spoke to him about his behavior, he showed little interest in listening or changing. I feel lost, but I know you get me.  Please don’t fall for guys like Ben again. You are so much worthier than what he is like. I know you can find real love  where the other person communicates in your love language, and they show you the respect you are so worthy of.  On the job front, you know the hell I’ve been through the last few years, and I really appreciate all you’ve done to encourage me . Have you found a better job? I am proud of you, regardless of what you’ve chosen. Have you set a few career goals , and how are you planning to reach them?  As always, stay strong, keep your chin up , and eyes bright while fighting your battles each day. 

Final Thoughts on How to Write a Letter to Future Self Example

Before you know it, the future is here . While you may color your hair and botox your face, you are still aging , and you are not the same person you were 20 years ago. The future you , who is reading the letters written by you in the past, will appreciate the learning opportunities and moments for reflection that your letters bring. These letters create a bridge between the past and the future. 

Writing a letter to your future self also reads much easier when you use clear headings or themes to keep some structure in your letter —otherwise you are writing gibberish which nobody can decipher, least of all your future self. 

Sometimes, you need to write a letter of sympathy and empathy to your past self that has suffered greatly to help you feel that you were seen , understood , heard , and “ gotten .” Your own empathy can be the best gift you can give yourself with a future self-letter. When you read this future self letter in 10 or 20 years’ time, you may better understand yourself and the decisions you are making right now. 

To find out more about the power of writing letters , why not read my article writing a letter to your disrespectful daughter ? Happy writing!

Finally, if you don’t know the “right” way to journal, then check out this seven-step process for building a journaling habit that sticks .

The digital classroom, transforming the way we learn

Articles and "Free lesson plans on the go"

Lesson plan; write a letter to your future self.

Introduction..

In this very personal activity, students have the chance to write a letter to their future self, to open either at the end of the school year or at the end of high school/middle school or later in life.

Important : Tell the students that they are the only person who will ever read their letter (unless they choose to share it with others). This means that they can write in any language, do a great job or not such a great job – because they are the only ones who will ever know.

Consider a variety of prompts to get students started. In each one, encourage students to think of themselves not just as students, but as human beings: sisters, brothers, friends, sons or daughters, creatives, athletes, leaders, etc.

• What is one thing you’d like to accomplish this year or in 3 years?
• Describe how you feel right now and what you enjoy doing.
• Where do you see yourself as a student in 1 or 3  or 6 years’ length of time?
• What are you most proud of in your life so far? What do you want to be proud of in one year?
• Describe something you are struggling with right now, and describe what it might look like to have overcome it.
• Write a letter to give your future self some encouragement and love!
• How have you changed over the past few years, and how do you hope to change over the next few?

Use the service FutureMe . Every student needs a personal email account to do this.

Watch the videos below for inspiration and read this article in The Guardian about 31-year-old Wilfred Chan and how he has used this service since he was 17.

“I hope you can remember what it felt like to be 21,” young me wrote. “Because I have no idea what I want to do with my life right now, but it’s okay. Because I do have faith that things are going to find a way to work themselves out.” As I read it, I felt memories of the last decade wash over me. Twenty-one-year-old me would never have predicted that I would start my career in Hong Kong, as a journalist covering its  tragic democracy movement . That I would return to New York City years later and work for a while  delivering food . That we would face a pandemic amid resurgent white supremacy and accelerating climate catastrophe.

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Writing a Letter To Your Future Self

• by Celes     |    
• Filed in Self-Improvement

(Image: Agnes Kantaruk )

Have you written a letter to your future self before? Back in the early 2010s, I came across the Yahoo! Time Capsule, where users could contribute to a digital legacy of how life was in 2006, which would be opened at a later date. I then came up with the idea of writing a letter to your future self, where you write a personal note to your future self, seal it, and then open it at a future date. There are no restrictions on how far you should project into the future — you can write to your future self 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, or even 10 years from now!

Why Write a Letter To Your Future Self?

Doing this exercise can be a very powerful experience.

Imagine writing to your future self 5 years from now — what would you say to him/her? What kind of person would you be? What goals would you want to have achieved? Writing the letter gets you thinking about your goals 5 years from now. As you write your letter, you start to think about the actions you should take now to achieve your goals by then.

When you read your letter 5 years into the future, you can assess (a) whether this vision you wrote before matches who you are today, and (b) how much of it has been achieved. Often times, our life plans are subjected to many changes due to unexpected obstacles, unanticipated circumstances, and changing life priorities. Your letter lets you take a step back and identify the things you need to continue or do differently to move forward.

In addition, when you write your letter, your consciousness and thoughts are stored in your words. When you read it, it’s like you are being contacted by the old you. It gives you a different insight into yourself and lets you see how much you have changed since then. :)

How To Write Your Letter

While you can write to your future self from any time period, I recommend to start with a one year time frame. This way, it’s easier to envision your goals, and it also gives you a comfortable time frame to take action.

(If you like, you can write two letters, one to the future you a year later and another to the future you three or five years later.)

Refer to today’s date.

• What do you want to be one year from now?
• What are the goals and dreams you want realized by then?
• What is your desired status for the areas on your  life wheel ? Career/Business/Studies? Money/Wealth? Family? Friends? Love? Health? Spirituality? Recreation? Contribution? Self-Image?
• Once you’re done, sign off with your name and today’s date.
• Put the papers in an envelope. Seal it.
• On the cover, write “To [Your Name]. To be opened on [Date].” Replace “[Your Name]” with your name, with “[Date]” the date that’s one year from now.
• Set an appointment in your calendar to open your letter one year from now.
• Put this envelope in a safe place where no one can access it.
• In this one year, work hard on your goals and vision! Then open and read your letter one year from today. :)

For your letter format, you can either write a physical letter or type it. I used to write my letters using pen and paper, but I’ve since switched to typing and printing the final copy (this way I have a backup if anything happens).

You can use  FutureMe.org , a service that helps you send your message to your desired email address at any point in the future. Personally I recommend to write your letter on your computer and store it, rather than using such a service. With an external service, you never know who has access to your letters, and your letter will be gone if the service gets shut down.

Opening My Letter From My Past Self

Back in 2008, on February 2010, I wrote two letters to my future selves. The first letter was to my future self one year later, on February 10, 2009. The second letter was to my future self 5 years later, on February 10, 2013.

So a year later on February 10, 2009, I opened my first letter and read in excitement . It was interesting seeing what I was like a year ago and how much I have changed. There were some things that I accurately foresaw, and many things I didn’t anticipate.

In terms of goals, I had achieved several goals. For Career, I leapt ahead of my predictions — in my letter, I wrote that I would still be working in my ex-company while working on my purpose on the side, and quit my job a few years later. As it turned out, I had already quit my job and started working on my purpose full time! :) In terms of Health, I had reached my desired weight/look, something I was really proud of as losing weight was something I had struggled with for years.

There were some goals I had not reached yet. For example for Love, I thought that I would have found my relationship partner by then, but I had not. This wasn’t an issue as I came to the realization that  we are already perfect as singles  (I would later meet my husband in 2013). In terms of Friendship, some friends whom I thought I would still be on great terms with had slipped away. Instead, I formed great friendships with other people in the past year. In a way, it’s a natural equilibrium — when you let go of certain connections, new connections will take their place.

There were goals that I didn’t reach as I abandoned them halfway because they lost meaning to me. For example, buying a car. When I received a pay rise the previous year and was able to consider getting a car, I realized that owning a car in Singapore, where public transport is readily available, does not resonate with my highest self. My original intent of getting a car was more for image reasons — growing up, we were often told that having a car was a symbol of success. That desire had long been shed, along with my old self. Not to mention, having a car isn’t exactly environmentally friendly.

On the same note, I had changed in the past year in terms of my materialistic tendencies. While I was not a materialistic person when I wrote my letter in 2008 (I was 23), I became less materialistic since, given my revelations on material wealth and goods . My consciousness was also higher as I had been working a lot on my growth.

All in all, reading my letter made me realize several things. It made me more conscious of how I have changed vs. the past (vs. just relying on memory). It reminded me of some of my past visions that I lost track of along the way. It made me appreciate how far I have come and look forward to the future.

Subsequently, I opened my 5-year letter and share my results here: Writing a Letter to Your Future Self [Video]

Write Your Letter To Your Future Self

Grab your pen and paper now and start writing your letter to your future self! Identify a time period to write to, imagine what you would be like, and then start writing! Think about the kind of person you would like to be, what you would want to be doing, what you would have accomplished by then, and what you want to say to yourself.

Follow the steps in the exercise above. Get working on your goals, then open your letter with pride a year from now! :)

Update Aug 2014 : I created a video tutorial on writing a letter to your future self, where I share more tips plus open my 5-year letter to myself. Watch: Writing a Letter to Your Future Self [Video]

For those of you with  Live a Better Life in 30 Days , the task for Day 29 is to write a letter to your future self.

Hi, I’m Celes. Thanks for reading. Personal Excellence is where I write about how to live our best life as we tackle life’s challenges.  About Me »

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Why We Should Stop Wasting (And How To Prevent Waste)

Are You Sleepwalking Your Life Away? (Part 2)

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How writing down your goals literally helps you achieve them

Set yourself up for success by writing the way ahead.

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Mindfulness

Why should I write a letter to my future self?

Writing a letter to yourself can be helpful, insightful and completely uplifting.

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How to write a letter to yourself: Capture a memory

Not sure how to write a letter to yourself? Read on to find out how you can capture a memory to send to the future.

How to write a letter to yourself: The gratitude list

Gratitude rhymes with attitude, and it is the attitude we apply to our lives that help us celebrate the present and be truly happy.

Future Letter Ideas!

Hi there! Writing a letter to the future can be a powerful experience. And receiving a surprise letter from the past can be an even more powerful experience. Check out the testimonials all of the people who agree! .

• To your next birthday (obviously!)
• To a date by which you predict we are "back to normal" and recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic. What did we learn?
• Uma data que você atingiu um objetivo importante (Se formou? Se casou? Aposentou!)
• Write a story in present tense about your life in 5 years ("You are sipping coffee in your new home...") and paint a picture of your future self's day.
• To yourself, when you will be your parents age.
• To your kids, when they will be your age. Or to the age when you think you will have kids.
• To your spouse/partner, on your 10th (20th? 50th?) anniversary (you must create an account first to write to someone else!)
• To the year 2030, when the IPCC says we must hit Greenhouse Gas Reduction goals to keep Global Warming below 1.5 degrees celsius.
• To yourself, while you're on your next vacation.
• ...Or...while on vacation, to yourself when you've back "to the grind."

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My favorite end-of-the-year activity for high school: letter to future self

One of my favorite end-of-the-year activities I’ve ever done with my students is an end-of-the-year letter to themselves. I did this one year that I had seniors. I had them write a letter to their future selves, and I told them I would mail the letters to them in one year.

Several days before we begin the assignment, I tell students that they will be writing a letter to themselves and that I’ll need for them to bring in a self-addressed, stamped envelope. I collect the self-addressed stamped envelopes for several days before the actual assignment, and I keep them organized and separated by class period and then in alphabetical order.

The main reason why I collect the self-addressed, stampede letters for several days is so that more students bring them in. I usually let them know about the assignment on a Thursday so they have the weekend to get the supplies, and then we usually don’t write until the end of the next week.

I provide envelopes and stamps for all of the students who did not bring in their own. Usually, there are not that many. Also, I suggest checking with your school because they might mail the letters for you! Also, if you are looking for more end-of-the-year activities for middle school and high school students, you might want to check out this blog post .

Since I did this activity with seniors, we first discussed the big steps they were about to take including graduating from high school, possibly going away to college, possibly starting at a community college, possibly joining the military, or possibly joining the workforce. We also talked about hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations for the year after high school. I also shared stories about my first year away at college with them as well. I shared fun experiences like moving into the dorms, challenging experiences like learning how to navigate an entirely new city all on my own, and how I managed to juggle a part-time job with school work.

Then, I asked them to think about what they hoped to accomplish in the year following high school. I asked them to think about what they wanted to learn, what they hoped to achieve, and where they wanted to be in one year from now.

For the actual assignment, they turned in their letters in sealed, self-addressed, stamped envelopes. I didn’t read the letters. They were not for me; it was an assignment for my students. It was a credit/no credit final assignment. On the day they wrote the letters in class, they were engaged. I could tell they were really thinking about what to write to their future selves. I put on some music for some ambiance, and it was a memorable moment. The air was heavy with optimism, excitement, and a bit of trepidation.

After all of my students turned in their letters, I stored them in a filing cabinet for a year. Exactly one year later, at the end of the next school year, I reminisced about my amazing senior classes from the years prior (and they truly were amazing classes. I missed those students so much the following year) as I took out the envelopes and put them in the mail.

Possible Reflection Questions If your students need some extra guidance, here are some reflection questions you can write on the board to help your students think about what to write.

• Where do you hope to be in one year?
• What do you hope to have accomplished in one year?
• What do you want to be working towards?
• How do you think this next year will go?
• What are you most excited about for this next year?
• What are you most worried about for this next year?
• How can you help make the world a better place?
• If you aren’t where you want to be in one year, what advice can you give your future self?

More End of the Year Activities End of the Year Activities for Secondary Students Growth Mindset End of the Year Activities End of the Year Mini Flip Book

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How to Write a Letter to Your Past Self (With Examples)

“I’m so proud of you.”

When was the last time you heard that? What’s more, when was the last time you said those words to yourself? The last few years have been difficult for everyone, particularly on our mental health. If you’re a high-achiever, you tend to be your own worst critic. Giving yourself credit where credit is due may not come second nature. If this sounds familiar, keep reading, because the exercise I’m about to share will help you be more compassionate with yourself.

We’ve already explored the benefits of journaling , but today I want to take writing for mental health a step further with a letter to your younger self. Whether you’re doing this assignment for school or for personal development (in that case, A plus!), you’ll be amazed at the perspective it provides.

Why Write to Your Past Self?

The old adage, “Hindsight is 20/20,” is cliche, but it’s also true. Writing letters to yourself is a powerful way to reflect on your life experiences and inform your future thinking. Remember that it’s unrealistic to expect that “past you” could have anticipated all that would happen in your life. Letter writing like this should come from a place of love and compassion. The benefits of writing a letter to yourself in the past include…

• Increasing self-awareness
• Cultivating gratitude
• Gaining a new perspective
• Processing past trauma
• Practicing mindfulness and being in-the-moment

Writing to your past self, even in the form of a short note , allows you to tell a new story about things you’ve experienced. Maybe you went through a difficult life transition, suffered a loss, or moved across the globe. Letter writing can be a therapeutic tool in viewing your past self through a more compassionate lens.  

How to Write a Letter to Your Past Self

Get in the zone.

Sit in a quiet spot with a journal or piece of paper and your favorite pen . This should be a space where you can hear your thoughts clearly and remain undisturbed for a while. Something as simple as lighting a candle or playing soft music can get you into the writing zone.

Choose a Date in the Past

t’s recommended to use five years as the point in the past to look back to. This allows enough distance for you to have experienced life changes but it's still close enough to remain active in your memory. Consider a date immediately before a life transition , like going to college, moving, or getting married.

Or, think back to yourself at a specific age . What were you like as a pre-teen, teen, or young adult? How have you changed and grown since then? Any moment in the past that had a significant impact is the best way to start a letter to yourself .

Start Letter Writing

Begin by taking a few deep breaths in and out. By simply writing “ Dear past self, ” you’ll probably find that your subsequent words flow easily. Write down what you have learned since your chosen date and what has strengthened you in difficult times. Write down your hopes and dreams and give yourself credit for not giving up. The more you write, the more new insights and perspectives you’ll discover.

If you’re like me, you’ll benefit from some writing prompts to get you started. I’ll list some of my favorites from The University of Edinburgh and Allina Health below.

Letter Writing Prompts

• What is the memory I have from this time? Why is it significant?
• How did I feel during this time? How did I process those feelings?
• What do I wish I could have said or done differently then?
• What are the main things that I’ve learned since then?
• What wisdom or knowledge do I wish someone could have given me at that moment?
• What types of people have helped me along the way?
• What is the best advice I could give my past self?
• What would I tell myself to get through the challenges I faced?
• What do I wish my younger self had known to feel better now?

After you’ve finished your letter to yourself, put it out of sight and out of mind . Only reread it after a few days have passed. Then, ask yourself these questions…

• Do I want to make any additions or changes?
• How could I follow the advice I’ve given myself better?
• What can I take from this letter to apply to my future?
• What am I able to see now with gratitude?

Letter to Past Self Examples

Dear Past Self,

I know you’re struggling right now, and I want you to know I’m here for you. You might feel like you’re never going to get past this, but I promise you will. You might feel small, helpless and incapable, but believe me, that’s not true. You deserve more credit than you give yourself. Stop doubting your skills and downplaying your potential. Your moment will come.

You are shaped by your past, but your past doesn’t dictate your future. You’ve been through challenge after challenge and come out the other side. You’re starting to understand that every experience you have, good or bad, can teach you a valuable lesson.

Remember that this too shall pass. Keep learning, growing, and persevering.

I’m so proud of you. With Love,

Your Future Self

This is just one of many ways you can format your letter. Here are some other letter to past self examples to take inspiration from:

Concordia University letter to yourself example

NYU letter to yourself example

A Lesson in Compassion

We often look back on the past and think, “If only I knew then what I know now.” Writing a letter to your past self is like a mini memoir. You’re writing about the past with knowledge of the present. This allows you to bridge your past, present and future selves with wisdom that can only come from hindsight.

Above all, writing letters to yourself is a lesson in self-awareness , personal growth, and self- compassion . Allow this activity to help you reflect, make space for healing, and get your pen moving. And remember: stay inky, my friends.

About the Author

Madeleine is a copywriter and video script whiz for creative and inventive brands. As an empathy-based marketer, every website, landing page, blog, email, and video she writes showcases her clients at their best. Some say she's a mind-reader, but she's really just an expert listener with one goal in mind: to inspire readers (and viewers) to take action. A true logophile, she's the one who (unabashedly) keeps a hard copy thesaurus on her desk. When she's not on set or crafting copy, you can find her nose in a book sipping a matcha latte.

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My Breakthrough Moment: Writing a Letter to My Younger Self

Dont let the past control your present. instead, face the past head-on with a letter to your younger self, like the one i wrote..

If you’ve ever sat down to write a letter when you’re mad or upset, you know the experience can be cathartic. It’s the same when you address the letter to yourself — your younger self.

Don’t let the past control your present. If you hold onto things that upset you — even something you’ve done to yourself — it can create a cloud of negativity that follows you around for years.

Instead, face the past head-on with a letter to your younger self, just like mine below.

A Letter to My Younger Self

Dear Kayla,

You’re a full-fledged adult now, can you believe it? At 15, you wanted the years to fly by. Now, I just wish they would slow down. 

It’s not all bad. Being an adult, and all of the freedom that comes with it, is even better than you imagined. The ability to make a pizza at 3 a.m. without mom asking what you’re doing. Heading off on road trips with your husband. Setting your own schedule to do what you want, when you want. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

There are some things I wish you would have done differently, though. If only you had known then what you know now. That’s why I’m writing to you!

You don’t know it yet, but after you graduated and moved out of mom and dad’s, you struggled to find my place in the world. You bounced from dead-end job to dead-end job. You felt unsatisfied with life. Then, when you started blogging, you finally felt a sense of satisfaction — accomplishment. It took a long time to get there, though.

Be serious about school. It may not seem like a big deal now, but it will later. Listen to your teachers, strive for good grades, study for the SATs and get into a good college. It will make things easier, I promise. Education is how you challenge your thinking and become a better person.

It was in college that you learned more about meat production. It’s where you decided to give up eating meat. It’s been a great decision, and you feel healthier every day for having done so.

I don’t hold my past decisions against myself — don’t worry, you can keep the bacon for now — but I wish there were some other things I had known. Maybe if you would have changed majors, you would have been a little happier? (We both know you love writing poetry, but were too afraid to do anything about it!)

Now, you have a career you love and write poetry as much as you like – just not professionally. Who knows, maybe you’ll get there!

Though you probably should have done some things differently (i.e. branched out more and joined a few clubs and organizations), you’re right where you need to be now.

Don’t give up, even when you feel like you should. Life gets a whole lot better.

How to write your own letter

If you want to write a letter, you may not know where to start. To get a sense of what you want to get out of the letter, start with a simple goal. Maybe you want use the letter as a topic for a college essay. If this is the case, jot down some key areas you wish to address in your letter to get an idea of what points to talk about.

You may not even know what you want from the letter, and that’s okay, too. Just write!

I wanted to confront my mistakes, so I wrote about what bothered me, what I wish I had done, and where I ended up in life.

Doing this felt sort of like a diary, but because I directed the letter towards a more naïve, younger version of myself, it was easier than I thought.

After writing my letter, I felt a sense of clarity like never before. Almost like my life flashed before my eyes, though less dramatic. 

The process meant I had to be honest with myself. What’s the point of writing a letter made for someone else to read? Dig out the heavy stuff.

Who can you get personal with, if not yourself?

If you plan to write your own letter, it’s crucial to detect self-deception — when you lie to yourself.

It can be easy to believe your own lies

We all want to paint ourselves and our past actions in the best light, even when it’s far from the truth. However, real growth comes from brutal honesty. Here's how writing your letter will open things up for you:

A confrontation

In writing a letter to my younger self, I can confront my decisions and gain peace. It’s over — done with. I can’t change it. All I can do is hope to get closure.

The same goes for my decision to stop eating meat. When I first discovered how manufacturers made meat products, I felt guilty for my participation. I believed, because of my purchase habits, I was responsible for the horrible conditions. I lacked compassion for my own choices, whether right or wrong.

At 15, I know I wasn’t thinking about where my food came from and how it was made. I was thinking about boys and college and getting my driver’s license.

In college, I was afraid to pursue a career that I’d really like because I didn’t know how successful I would be. Even if I worked hard, how good could it really get? I decided to major in English instead, which proved to be just fine, but I beat myself up a lot after college for chickening out.

Feeling bad for myself did nothing constructive.

In the end, I was able to write for a living, which is just what I wanted. Though it’s not poetry, I can still pick up a pad and pen whenever I please. Even though it wasn’t in the cards, maybe it will be someday.

The idea is to confront your emotions in a raw and honest way.

If you have any trouble, start with a sentence a day and work your way up to a letter.

How was your day today? How will you make tomorrow better?

Eventually, the thoughts will just flow, and you’ll have written a page in no time.

A sense of peace

If you’re exceptionally hard on yourself, you’re not alone. I’ve gone through the negative cycle of berating myself for past mistakes, even though the outcome can’t be changed. However, self-criticism can take a toll — on both our minds and bodies.

Our brains are trained to distinguish the good from the bad. When we sway from our goals or expectations, we assign a negative value to the experience. 

Writing a letter to my past-self allowed me to access the more compassionate side of my brain — to analyze the situation in a new light.

We’re human, and we all make mistakes, no matter how evolved we are. The trick is to learn from mistakes in order to not make them again. So far, I think I’m doing alright in that department. 

You’ve written the letter — now what?

Once I wrote my letter, I signed it, sealed it in an envelope and — stuck it in a drawer. Sorry if that’s anti-climactic, but it’s the truth.

It’s not about who reads the letter or where it ends up. It’s about the writing process. Typically, dwelling on the past is a vicious cycle, but writing is a healing process that has real benefit. 

When you talk to someone, as in traditional therapy, you get the opportunity to vent your feelings and frustrations. When you write a letter to your younger self, you try to understand and learn from past decisions and emotions.

Don’t just relive past events

Focus on the emotions you felt and consider how you changed for the better as a result. This exercise can be especially beneficial for those who are introverted, like me, and prefer to keep to themselves.

Writing a letter to your younger self isn’t hard. Just pick up a pen and get going. Consider life events that have shaped who you are and how you think. When finished, seal the letter away to reflect on later. Likewise, you can toss it in the trash and consider it the end to a healing experience.

What will you write next?

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Shaquille O'Neal Sends New Shoes To Teen With Size 23 Size

A teen in Missouri was having trouble finding shoes that fit him. He appealed to local news outlets and tried to find a solution online. But because of his large size, it was hard to find a reasonable and affordable option. Then Shaq stepped in to save the day.

Appealing to the Community

Shaq helps teen who can't find shoes in his size

YouTube/KCTV

Jor’el Bolden had been looking for shoes for months. The teen is a size 23, which isn’t available in stores. Instead, he needed to find someone to make him custom shoes, which can cost more than a thousand dollars.

That kind of money for a pair of shoes wasn’t realistic for Bolden and his mother, Tamika Neal, so they created a GoFundMe account to raise money for some. In the meantime, Bolden squeezed his feet into the largest pair of shoes he could find, a size 22, which is the largest available commercial size. It was painful and hard.

When local news outlets found out about the campaign and the son and mother shared their story, the support they received was flooring. They soon collected more than their initial $9,500 goal.

“I’m overwhelmed and excited because [his foot size] is something I don’t have control over, but as a parent, not being able to provide something that your kid needs... it does something to you," Neal told KCTV . "Having people reach out and pull through for us was amazing.”

A Superstar Steps In

Someone else who had to deal with being larger than his peers growing up was Shaquille O’Neal. He heard about Bolden’s story and related to the kid, so he reached out himself.

“ Entertainment Tonight , they messaged me, and she was like, ‘Someone special wants to talk to you,’” Neal recalled to the outlet. The next thing she knew, she was giving her number to producers, who forwarded it to O’Neal for a Facetime call.

“[Jor’el] didn’t have a shirt on,” Neal recalled of the surprise. “I said, ‘I’m sorry he doesn’t have a shirt on’ and [Shaq] said ‘What’s up big sexy?’”

O’Neal chatted with the teen for a bit, and they said goodbye. Less than a week later, three big boxes showed up.

A Wonderful Surprise

Inside the boxes were new clothes, at least 20 pairs of shoes, and some personal items from O’Neal’s closet, including a Papa John’s tee that Shaq once wore for a commercial.

“It’s better than Christmas morning, Santa didn’t send this, Shaq did,” Neal said.

Now, Bolden is able to put the money raised from the GoFundMe toward his future, when he will eventually require new shoes.

“Thank you for taking the time and the money that you have earned to give to me when I needed it,” Bolden added. "Thank you for all of the things that will come from it and that already have.”

Ask And You Shall Receive

It can be hard to have a notable difference from your peers, especially when it’s a physical thing like shoe size that requires you to buy custom items to live. But it's also important to remember that those differences are what make us special, and as this story proves, it’s okay to ask for help.

Had this teen and his mom not reached out to their online communities for support, O’Neal would have never heard their story. The fact that he did and contributed is a testament to all of the other non-celebrity folks out there who helped spread the word to make this teen’s life a little easier.

At the end of the day we all need help sometimes, so don’t let pride get in the way. And if you are in a position to help someone else, know that your contribution will go a long way in that person’s life. Community is what we make it, and as this story proves community can be a pretty wonderful thing.

He Thought He’d Be the First Black Man in Space — Now the 90-Year-Old’s Dream is Coming True

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Interracial Couple Inspires Next Gen 40 Years After Wedding

When Mike and Jeralyn Wirtz wed more than four decades ago in Virginia, interracial marriage had only been legal for 10 years. Fast forward to today, and their love story is inspiring a new generation thanks to the couple’s active participation in social media .

Destined to be Together

See on Instagram

When the Wirtzs met in 1976, they had both already made strong friendships with people of other races. So when they came into each other’s orbits, race was far from their minds. The couple lived in the same apartment complex, and they noticed each other hanging around the pool.

“I thought, ‘I like this girl, and she’s very attractive and I’m interested in her,’ and so we just started dating,” Mike recalled to Today .

“Obviously, I realized it was an interracial type of situation. I didn’t feel overwhelmed by it, though, because I think one thing that helped was eventually when she met my parents, they welcomed her with open arms, and her family was the same way with me.”

The couple fell in love and married in 1977 — almost 10 years after the Supreme Court struck down laws banning interracial marriage . Mike and Jeralyn had two children and went through life together, even when life threw them challenges.

“We knew that prejudice was out there and people would probably be looking at us, but we didn’t look for that,” Jeralyn added to the publication. “We didn’t, you know, engage in it.”

An Inspiring Love Story

two people holding papercut heart

When the pandemic hit, the Wirtzs decided to create a TikTok account to connect with their children and their grandchildren. Eventually, they began posting videos and old photographs of their love story, and people came flocking.

Today, their account boasts more than 370,000 followers and nearly 16 million likes.

“I’m not like Jeri. I don’t embrace it as much,” Mike said of their newfound fame. “We’re doing something that we enjoy, and we’re having fun at it. And I would have never in a million years guessed that other people would be interested in watching these videos.”

“I like it. I love it. I think it’s fun,” added Jeralyn. “I get to tease my younger friends that are working on becoming influencers and don’t have a lot of followers. I’m like, ‘I’m 72 years old and I’m a ‘YouTuber’ or an ‘influencer.’ It’s fun and funny for us.”

Love Conquers All

If you ever needed a love story to remind you of the power of true love, this is it. This couple met and married during a time when many questioned their decision, and went on to live a beautiful life together. They’re a wonderful reminder that with the right person, you really can take on the world.

Love doesn’t have to be with a romantic partner. This story teaches us that when you invest in the things that truly matter, such as love, friendship, and meaningful connections, societal opinions can fade into the background.

In the meantime, this couple also reminds us that social media and the internet can be a wholesome place and that sometimes, just being yourself is the most powerful attraction of all.​

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