A Short Letter To No One In Particular

Hello,

No self-censoring, no self-editing. This is a raw unfiltered unfettered reminder for you.

Maybe you feel like you’re becoming old, like you’re getting too old to do the things you want to do in life. It’s an odd feeling, but it isn’t unwarranted.

Right now, you’re the oldest you’ve ever been. You’re surrounded by younger people who have achieved way more than you ever have — so far, at least. You feel like you’re losing a race you never even realized you were running until it was too late.

I don’t know how I can help you — really that’s something only you will be able to do. But I just want to tell you — the story is never really over.

Some people run a marathon at the age of 20. Others run their first at the age of 59. Is one’s achievement worth more than the other? Some might say yes. In fact, many people might say yes. But who cares? You ran a marathon.

Time is a weird and odd concept. There’s no real reason that we have seven days in a week, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour. Yet we still use these abstract concepts as our day to day yardstick, with no real understanding of why we use these concepts. Some people millenniums ago decided to make these numbers and now we use these as our day to day rules.

I’m sorry, I’m getting off topic. My point is, time works in mystical and magical ways. Time slows when you’re sitting with a loved one, and speeds up suddenly when you’re about to say goodbye. It drags when we sit in a class, yet compress when we sit for exams. Everyone is given the same hours in a day — yet we don’t all run on the same clock. Don’t compare your journey to others, don’t compare your race to others. We all are running on different tracks.

You have time. You have all the time you need. Don’t let others dictate when it’s too early or too late for you — only you know how the time on your clock ticks.

Run your race. Run free. There’s only you on the track — only you running, at your own pace, on your own time.

It may not be as quick as others. It may take years to finish. But as long as you put one foot in front of the other, every single day, you’ll finish your race. And everyone you care about, everyone you love, the people who really matter, will be there to celebrate and throw you in the air.

So don’t worry about the time. Run your race. I can’t wait to read all about it.

Till the next letter, Haikal