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Dear Madam Chen,


Do not cry and do not be scared. Yes, it's November 18 of 2039 there. And congratulations for finding this letter in your mailbox on this special day when you've finally paid off all your home loans and reached the destination of your 30-year-long odyssey!


Now let's extend our sincere thanks to Youzheng Slow Delivery's unmatched services. Youzheng Slow Delivery is currently just a small store newly-launched by some pas-sionate young guys in Beijing. But I believe their idea of leisurely delivering customers' letters to their future selves will blossom soon.


My apologies, dear, for planning your life arbitrarily and over-drawing your finances for three decades in one move. But try to think about the good side, first – with 30 years of practice, you've grown into a Microsoft Excel guru, archival scientist and accountant! Clicking on each of the accounting sheets arrayed on your MacBook Pro, one will be overwhelmed at a glance by the graceful curves and bar diagrams showing your expenditures and financial balance on each of the 10,950 days.


The longest bar, undoubtedly, is always the house loan. With the down payment sponsored by your parents, you still need to pay 5,200 yuan ($762) each month for the non-downtown house, each square meter of which costs 17,000 yuan ($2,489). Mr X has been working his fingers to the bone to make you worry less about the budget. And you, originally an enthusiastic buyer of fashionable items, shop for rice, salt and other daily necessities only.


Admittedly, I've kind of stolen your life of hedonistic enjoyment. You've never had a serious, long holiday, not to mention your dreamed-of Rome trip. Before your honeymoon, you could only afford a miniature wedding party with just your parents and best friends.


But it was still sweet, besides economic, wasn't it? After all, a house is the priority. What is a family if you two cook in someone else's kitchen and dream under another roof? And what is life even without a house? A house has replaced farmland as the lifeline of modern Chinese. This makes more sense to you since society is even more modern in 2039.


How is your girl, the one who's majoring in computer science and applying for graduate schools abroad? You kept delaying bringing her to the world due to your tight budget.


But don't blame yourself – without watching you working and talking in front of the computer every night, how else would she have been able to pronounce "equilibrium" since she was three years old?


I'm glad that I've made this decision to buy a house. Oh, tell your girl to get a full scholarship. Don't even think about sponsoring her by selling your house – in that case, the odyssey will just be endless.


Sincerely yours,


The brilliant me


By Chen Chenchen

netawhile

It is something I wrote 30 years ago - a best guess at what I would be doing in the future.  I may deserve some praise for having survived the struggle to build a career, raise a family and secure a home.  It was a time that I was fond of, looking back.  Getting started was not easy, but the past is locked away with many good memories and beginnings.  Both of my parents were living and still providing me with their love and encouragement.  "Nothing is impossible", they would say.  You are a responsible adult now.  Your kids have grown and you own your home.  It is at this street address that it all began.  Don't bother writing back, I have moved on.  Good work, self!  

This is a concept that has value.  Imagine writing a letter to your future self.  Will you forget about it and be curious when the strange letter arrives?  Will you think about the letter you wrote now and again?  Will you read it and weep as you look back on a life that met unexpected twists and turns?  If you love yourself, you are writing to your most treasured friend.  What would you say?  You can't think of making a photocopy of this letter because it doesn't exist for 30 years yet.  Where will you be relative to your goals?

Another letter or two that you may have written will include a letter to your spouse or children.  These will certainly be a surprise, perhaps a little eerie?; a letter from the grave?  What would you like to say to them?  Would you explain some things to set the record straight?  There may have been circumstances that they couldn't understand at a younger age and you felt it needed clarification.  It may be just some added encouragement to them and a good wish for their future or a message of love to your beloved.