A Letter to My 25-Year-Old Self

Dear 25-Year-Old Gel,

This is unexpected, but I believe needed. Your 25th year in this world would open a lot of new things for you to explore, especially since this is also the year when you move out of mom and dad’s place and decide to live on your own. Kudos to that! Remember when we were in uni watching Sex and the City and hoped we can be a mix of Carrie and Samantha? Living on our own in the big city with a satisfyingly good job, and then ordering cocktails in the evening with our girlfriends? Well, our life isn’t exactly like that, but still also something like that.

To begin this “report” of some sort, we have a stable job. I know that sounds boring, but you will eventually realize that you favor routine in your life so much. It took awhile for me to accept it, because I’ve always thought of us as exciting, wild, and fun-loving, but hey… We are, but we find comfort in our daily routine. Waking up at 5 in the morning, going straight to the gym after a long day at work, heading home after, and then doing our chores, while watching something on Netflix. Trust me, you’d love it. I did. I still do.

Speaking of the gym, we are now an athlete. Well, not the Hidilyn Diaz-Olympic type of athlete, but we do workout and train a lot and compete. We now do Crossfit, Powerlifting, and Kettlebell Sports. Remember the Reebok Experience Zone about Crossfit we attended in 2012 it was, I think? We thought the people there were crazy… Now we’re one of them. We had a major weight loss too, and even though we still got a long way to go, we look absolutely gorgeous right now. Our fitness journey had not been easy, but it is a fun one. Don’t give up, just keep moving forward and believing in yourself.

Remember what we keep saying about love? How it is not a unique feeling? We still believe that up to now. We will make a very big mistake in love on our late 20s, which will leave us feeling empty, sad, regretful, and alone for a few years; but don’t be too scared, because we will eventually learn from it and get better. Our love/dating life will be fun, with a few heartbreaks and tears, but hey… Take the risk. Don’t let your mistrust on that one person be carried over to the next guy you’ll be dating. Never be the toxic girl just because we have leftover insecurities from our past. Go date, fall in love, and enjoy every moment you spend with the person you’re seeing. Again, love is not a unique feeling. Whether you admit it or not, you will fall in and out of love, but never be afraid of it.

We will also meet a lot of new friends throughout our journey. They will teach us the craziest things, and they will be part of what would make our life wonderful as we get older. Keep in mind that friends are the family we choose. Never take the good ones for granted and let go of those who will only take advantage of you. The right people will stay in your life and be with you through thick and thin. Be honest and true to them.

I’m writing you this letter because I’m at a point in my life right now that I need to look back and appreciate how far I’ve gone; that everything I went through had been part of what made me the better version of myself today no matter how difficult things seem to be. I am in no way scaring you because I think, by now, you’ve come to understand that life is not a walk in a park. As we get older, we deal with bigger responsibilities, but never let any of the challenges you face make you give up on life.

You are a wonderful person, and you have a beautiful soul. You still have a lot of beautiful things in store for you. Never forget that.

Sincerely,

32 (almost 33)-year-old Gel