Write future letters

It's a cheat code

Inbox zero was the dream.

Inbox 28,561 is the reality.

But there’s one piece of electronic mail that you would never leave unread.

What if you could hear from your younger self?

This would have seemed like black magic to our ancestors. But now it’s possible.

I’ve been using a free service called FutureMe for years.

It’s a genius concept.

It allows you to write a letter to your future self and have it delivered straight to your inbox in six months, a year, five years, ten years, or even fifty years from now.

Maybe it’s just my inner narcissist, but I love hearing from my younger self.

No matter how busy life gets, I immediately stop whatever I’m doing, pour myself a double espresso, set aside a few minutes, and snuggle up on my couch to see what my past self wanted to tell future me.

I can’t even recall any of the contents of those letters, but I always remember the warm, fuzzy feeling I’m left with.

Writing a letter to your future self is cool.

---

But I discovered another use case that’s even better.

You can write letters to your future loved ones as well!

I don’t see this advertised anywhere on the site.

They should change that.

All you need to do is enter their email (instead of yours) in the delivery box before clicking “Send to the Future”.

I had completely forgotten about this until Sunday, September 8 at 7:32 am.

My wife busted through the porch door with a tear rolling down her left cheek nearly causing Xena (our german shepherd) to have a heart attack and rudely interrupting my morning writing session.

Uh oh.

What have I done?

To my surprise, she gave me a bear hug and said, “You’re the best husband ever.”

I already knew this to be true but I was a bit befuddled.

Especially since I could’ve sworn I heard her whisper under her breath the previous night after I was glued to the couch all day watching college football, “You’re the worst.”

Then it clicked.

She had just read the heartfelt letter my past self wrote and had arranged to be delivered to her on that day - our one year wedding anniversary.

I’ll save you the sappy contents of what it said, but I think that single decision guaranteed me another year of marriage.

Here’s the crazy part.

Now please, don’t tell her this, but I don’t have any memory of writing that letter.

Supposedly I wrote it a few months before we tied the knot.

I guess I was confident enough that I’d fooled her into not changing her mind?

Writing a letter to your future loved ones is sublime.

I’ve only tried this with my wife but I see no reason why you couldn’t do this for your kids, parents, siblings, friends, mentors, colleagues, or (if you’re feeling extra spicy) you’re enemies.

It’s a cheat code for showing just how thoughtful and considerate you are.

Especially for those of us who aren’t great at remembering our loved ones most meaningful days (holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etcetera).

All you need is their email and a few spare minutes.

What you write in the letter isn’t important.

But writing the letter couldn’t be more important.

PS - This isn’t a paid advertisement. But if anyone from the FutureMe team wants to compensate me they’ll have to do it the same way as you by buying me a coffee below. No special treatment.

Your thoughts? Criticisms? Complaints? Please leave a comment below.