An Inspiring Letter to My Future Self

Dear Future Self,

On the 7th of July, I will graduate from school finally and start a new exciting chapter at university, as a teenager girl, I held on so many dreams, fantasies, would describe my thoughts better.

I wanted so much to travel for university abroad, especially in Spain, where I got accepted in a very well-ranked University in Spain “Esade Barcelona School” actually this was my dream ever since I was a little child, I wanted to travel alone, discover myself, discover a new city that doesn’t speak my mother tongue language, meet new people, live a whole new world different than mine, I am a very sociable person.

The 7th of July, I graduated with the highest honors, my father was really happy however, he seemed a little bit exhausted, I felt that there was something fishy, which was a very strange feeling for me. What was scaring me is that I don’t know why, but I like to believe that many times my Gut feeling, most of the time turns out to be right. Which made me afraid, really afraid. However, as we may say our Gut feeling always leads us to something, my father was diagnosed with cancer, after one week from my graduation.

I immediately decided not to travel abroad for university, and joined AUC. Auc was a whole new experience, I learned a lot of new things about myself, I met new people, as well as joining my father’s journey with cancer. I believe that now everything has a clear understanding for me. I stayed with my father we battled his cancer together, I met new people whom have changed my life, also my father’s journey impacted me positively and taught me; I would rather stay with my family, be there with them rather than travelling for university abroad, definitely Spain would be a completely different chapter, but I like to believe that Staying here is the best for me.

This made me conclude that it may take us days, nights, months or years but what’s meant for you will always find its way to you. It may take patience, a lot of obstacles to overcome. Despair moments and a lot of heartbreaks. What’s written for you will always be worth the wait. The painful times won’t last forever, and it will give journey much more sense. Every obstacle, every heartbreak, every despair moment is meant to take us one step closer closer to what’s truly meant for us

Because God’s plans are always better than ours, and definitely he doesn’t make us suffer for nothing. There’s a promise always for the ones who just hold on. God doesn’t take away anything without sending us something in return for it. He definitely knows better than us. He always knows how to bless us, in the right moment.

We may never understand the reason behind why God chose this specific path for us, who’s full of hardships. We have to always keep hoping that eventually it will get clearer. It’s basically like the ramadan, we fast, because we know that soon the Athan will ring soon. And we will be able to break our fast.

We are sure that we will get rewarded. I like to see it similar to all the hardships we get through day by day. It may take a while but what’s meant for you will not mistakenly be given to someone else, they always say “God doesn’t give someone else, your piece of your cake”.

So be assured, that if something is meant for you, even if the whole world is competing for it, It will be yours and yours only, because it’s meant for you.

I personally believe that this the beauty of faith, knowing that while you’re suffering, it’s definitely for a meaning, a purpose, and your assurance of being rewarded, always helps to ease the pain.

God is full of surprises and blessings. Maybe his timings, isn’t always meeting with our needs and desires. And probably his plans for us aren’t similar to our wishes but it’s definitely has better meaning to know that at the end of the Journey, what’s meant for us will be ours, maybe we’ll stumble upon it, maybe it will require us to fight a few more battles, but it helps to know that once everything falls into place, what’s meant for us will not be taken away from us. What’s meant for us will always stay, despite all the heartbreaks, despair moments and obstacles.

Works Cited

1. Al-Khatib, A. (2021). The Power of Patience: Developing the Virtue of Patience in an Impatient World. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).
2. American University in Cairo. (n.d.). About AUC. Retrieved from https://www.aucegypt.edu/about
3. Brackman, M. (2019). The Power of Gut Feelings: The Role of Intuition in Decision Making. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/your-brain-work/201903/the-power-gut-feelings
4. Centeno, S. (2020). The Meaning of Suffering: Finding Value in Pain. The University of Chicago Magazine. Retrieved from https://mag.uchicago.edu/law-policy-society/meaning-suffering
5. Esade Business School. (n.d.). About Esade. Retrieved from https://www.esade.edu/en/about-esade
6. Hill, D. (2014). The Importance of Family in Our Life. Retrieved from https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/the-importance-family-our-life.html
7. Ramadan, H. (2021). The Beauty of Faith: Embracing Challenges and Finding Purpose. Medium. Retrieved from https://ramadanrhapsody.medium.com/the-beauty-of-faith-embracing-challenges-and-finding-purpose-3d8ed891d58e
8. Ramadan, N. (2016). Patience and Prayer: Seeking God Amidst Life's Challenges. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/patience-and-prayer-seeki_b_10281680
9. Reinhartz, C. (2019). How to Trust God When Life Feels Out of Control. The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-to-trust-god-when-life-feels-out-of-control/
10. Sapp, G. (2016). Waiting on God: Learning to Trust in God's Timing. Christianity.com. Retrieved from https://www.christianity.com/wiki/god/what-does-the-bible-say-about-waiting-on-god.html