Visited my grandmother's old house and found a note I wrote to myself at age 8

I was clearing out my childhood bedroom last weekend in Cleveland, and there it was stuffed in a crack in the windowsill. It said 'Remember the day you fell off your bike and nobody laughed.' I was so mad at myself for that fall for weeks, but the note reminded me I was tougher than I thought. Now when I mess up on a house listing or lose a client, I just think of that scrap of paper. Has anyone else found something stupid from their past that actually helped them cope with adult stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly.charlie1mo ago

Kids do that weird stuff, writing messages to their future selves. The note is basically a time capsule from when your brain was still learning how to handle shame. Too bad more adults don't stash little reminders like that for themselves.

nancyj111mo agoMost Upvoted

Isn't it funny how we tend to forget what really mattered to us back then? I heard this psychologist on a podcast talking about how kids' notes to their future selves are actually them practicing hope, not shame. @kelly.charlie, you're right that we could use more of that honest reminder as adults, especially when life gets messy. Maybe the real trick is learning to write a note to yourself at 30 that the 40-year-old version won't totally cringe at.

sage_green1mo ago

Wait, wait, wait. "Practicing hope not shame"? That psychologist might be onto something but I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that one. Little kid me wrote a note to myself in third grade saying "I hope you still like purple and have a pet dragon." Pretty sure my 30 year old self would be more disappointed about the lack of dragon than any shame about liking purple. Though honestly, that's a much nicer take than the usual "you'll grow out of this phase" stuff we tell kids. If kids are actually practicing hope by writing those notes, maybe adults could learn a thing or two about being less cynical. The idea of writing a note at 30 that won't make you cringe at 40 sounds like a dare I'd probably fail at, but I'd be willing to try.