A Note From the Future: These Are the Good Old Days
“These are the good old days.”
– Carly Simon
Be easier on myself
This past week, I didn’t feel like myself. I felt stuck. Heavy. Like I was dragging a chip on my shoulder I couldn’t shake.
As I dug into it, I realized the weight wasn’t from the tasks of the day, it was from unmet expectations and pain rooted in things far beyond my control. That realization didn’t immediately fix it, but it gave me clarity. So last night, I quietly remembered my promise to myself: be easier on myself this week, but tougher on my excuses. That’s my May mantra.
Then, like life often does, timing showed up perfectly.
During my morning workout (something I could control and complete), I listened to a podcast with Lewis Howes and Dean Graziosi. One simple question stopped me in my tracks:
If you could go 10 years into the future and come back to today to give yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?
Dean’s answer was this:
"I would say, these are the good old days, make them so."
That hit me. Hard.
Because it’s true. These are the good old days, and one day, we’ll look back on this exact moment and long for one more chance to experience it with more freedom, more joy, more presence.
I don’t carry regrets about big risks or bold failures. But I do sometimes regret not being more present. Not letting myself feel the joy. Not turning ordinary moments into lasting memories.
When I look at my own kids, or my nieces and nephews now becoming teenagers, I’m hit with a wave of nostalgia. We blinked, and the years were gone. And yet, some of the best memories came from simple days when we chose to laugh, be together, and live fully.
Here’s what I’m learning from this “letter from the future”:
Look after your body now - you’ll thank yourself in 10 years.
Don’t let today’s worries outweigh tomorrow’s vision.
Create a life your kids will be proud of and a childhood they'll remember fondly.
Tell people you love them. Say the words. Don’t wait.
You deserve the life you dream about - and you’re enough to make it happen.
No one looks back wishing they spent less time with their family.
Gratitude always outperforms fear. Joy lives in the small moments - go find it.
A decade flies by. I know this because it already has. And truthfully, I still have ideas I haven’t taken off the shelf. People I haven’t seen. Love I haven’t expressed.
But I also know this: every day is a blank page. A chance to write the story worth telling. A meeting that could change the game. A conversation that could deepen a relationship. A moment that might become one of the “good old days.”
Closing thoughts:
“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
– Robert Brault
Ten years from now, I don’t want to be the one who coasted. I want to be the one in the arena. The one who felt the highs and lows. Who tasted the blood, shed the tears, and still came back for more.
Because that’s what it means to live. And if you’re reading this - your best story might still be waiting to be written.
PS - here is a link to the podcast for those who might be interested! Listen Here
