Addressed to:  My Future Self

I am you, and you are comprised of everything that I am plus what you have become.

You have a contract with yourself.  You and your life come before work and outside the immediate family obligations.  You will not work the long shifts and it will not make you the one chosen for awards, promotions and accolades.  You will go to work and put forth every effort to get the job done on a daily basis.  You will be authentic in your approach and not allow others to turn you from your own path and manner of engagement.  Your primary strength and passion is interaction.  That’s what makes you valuable. It is the basis for your success as an engineer, a systems thinker, a manager, a friend and a lover.  Do not let this passion wane for it is the core of your being.

It is your interaction with your spouse and immediate family that fuels your happiness and life-satisfaction.  You have desires to go beyond what you are: to be a writer; to become a active pilot agin; to return to instructing Tai Chi; or to plan out leisure and early retirement.  These things provide the drive to continually improve but they do not define you.   If you do not do any of them you will still find the fun.  Your immediate experience and the interaction with your environment defines you and is the basis of your happiness.  Do not forget this.

It is your connections and friendships that form the foundation for your success, your family and your enjoyment of life.  Jessica is your other half.  She completes you and has for decades.  Your differences are how you integrate and fulfill each other’s inner selves.  Your Self in the largest sense of the word, your soul,  is inextricably bound to Jessica,  your family and friends.  Do not sacrifice your Self for work or anything outside your soul.

Herein lies the core of your contract.  Your soul is your existence and the connection with the reality around you.  Even if Jessie passes on, you will retain everything that has come to pass.  You and I are one and the same throughout time until the end of our days.  Do not give your soul away to any one, any idea or construct of any kind other than your Self.  Your Self is all you have and ever will have.

Seek the Essence.       Find the Fun.        Explore the Connections.

Sincerely,

your prior Self,
Jacob Kay Olson – – – – Jake