Incoming Call: The Future

Tell me,

If your compact blue trimmed AT&T LG phone started lighting up,

would you answer it?

Even if the caller ID stated:

“Future Me”?

Would you confine yourself to your room,

your safe haven,

and answer with a timid but curious

“Hello?”

Would you believe me

if I said I was future you?

Would you sit with me for hours

as I tell you to please grow up

but never grow old?

To laugh and find joy,

in everything that brings you life?

To find happiness in the smallest of moments?

and love your family,

for they’re your foundation?

To love yourself as the person you are,

the talents you have,

and the imagination that inspires you every day?

To think twice about your first relationship -

he wasn’t worth it.

And to quit the soccer team sooner.

You didn’t belong there,

no matter how hard you try to convince yourself otherwise.

They’re not your friends.

and your parents don’t care,

if you keep up with it or not.

Much greater things await,

in high school especially.

.

Would you listen to me as I’d tell you

to love your body as is?

That your height makes you stand out

but in the best way.

To not use eyeliner under your eyes,

but please, use mascara instead?

And powder foundation,

sweetheart,

is not enough as is.

Use liquid foundation and concealer then a little bit of powder.

And hydroseal bandaids for acne.

And lotion,

for crying out loud,

use lotion on your face before anything.

And to stop straightening your hair.

Please, we cut it all off later anyway.

Just a friendly tip.

You’ll thank me later.

.

But, seriously.

Would you sit there and listen to me

as I talk about the road ahead?

The grief,

the dark moments,

the depression,

the anxiety,

the fights,

losing friends,

relationships,

hope?

Would you hear me if I told you

to stay persistent?

That your resilience is not a form of stubbornness

but of survival?

.

Would you believe me if I told you

we’d lose friends,

but make new, amazing, ones down the road?

That we lose jobs,

opportunities?

But find new ones right when we need them?

That we never lose our sparks of inspiration?

And find other creative outlets that make us stop,

think,

appreciate.

.

Would you believe me if I told you we made it?

That we’re living on our own

in a nice one-bedroom apartment

with two precious guinea pigs

and plants.

So many plants.

.

Would you listen if I told you that

14 years later you still haven’t found a purpose,

but are trying to find those little moments every day

that make everything worth it?

Make life worth living?

.

Work right now may not be what we want.

The routine might be too boring.

But we’ve never lost sight

of that “something greater”.

.

So, would you listen?

Would you believe?

Would you trust me?

.

Please, pick up the phone.

Your future is calling.