IF YOU WERE TO MEET YOUR PAST SELF, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?

– Come on, why are you crying over such a stupid thing?
– Why on earth would you fall for such a red flag? Give yourself an upgrade!
– Why didn’t you do it better? Why didn’t you try harder?
– Stop fantasising over such meaningless things! That relationship is nothing better than a pain, then why do you still hold onto it and end up hurting yourself? 
– Be realistic! Wake up!
– You should have studied harder so that you could get into that best university.
– I promised I would love and spend more time with my parents.

If you had that magic door of Doraemon, and then had the opportunity to go back to meet your past self, would you say something similar to the sentences above? Or do you want to say something else?

We all have something called a “past self”. We have all grown up to be the version we are today, and it all comes from that very “past” of yours. Then what does your past self look like?

I do not know if you are good or bad right now, but if you were really given that opportunity, what would you choose to tell yourself first?

Now that you have made this far, I want you now to sit down, pause for about 30 seconds, and think of an answer for yourself.

Only after having an answer, come back and keep on continuing with this article, and allow me to tell you a little bit about my past self.

In my previous article titled “Dad’s Secrets”, I told you about how naughty and rebellious I was when I was a little kid who was constantly either scolded or got my butt whipped by my mother, just because of my “innocent” playtimes and laziness. Not only that, I was also super stubborn, and the more my mother hit me, the more I tried to think of many new ways to deal with her punishments and “sneak away” with my mistakes.

I was beaten and scolded countless times by my parents, but if I could go back to the past, I would actually not want to change anything in that childhood. Thanks to those beatings and scoldings, I could learn about how much my father has loved me, how he has protected me and guided me through the first phases of my life smoothly. If I could go back to that time, I would still choose to be such a naughty and naive girl.

When I grew a bit older and started working in the big city, I have been lost many times, have faced countless difficulties and loneliness in such a hectic city, and was in tears many times because of the feeling of helplessness, as well as feeling sorry for the unexpected things that came to me. However, also in that period, I discovered a more resilient, strong and determined “version” of Nga Hồ who was full of effort and passion for work, and who was willing to use all the vitality of youth to work righteously and earn money. I have lived very true to my instincts, loved and hated things distinctively, left what needs to be left, and cherished what needs to be cherished. No matter how stormy the weather was, I would also unhesitantly face it, and no matter how painful my injuries were, I would never give up.

During the journey from my fiery youth until the predestined relationship with religious practices that I am in right now, I have also gone through all the struggles, both inner and outer, that forced me to change and better myself and the situations surrounding me. I slowly tore my cocoon, “peeled” off the things that are no longer suitable to change the flesh and to grow with a better and more flexible body. Right now, I am still on the journey of learning and changing; I want to see at every step that I go through, there are opportunities for me to become better and different from my old versions.

Before becoming a Coach, I was also a wife and a mother who would stand from behind to support my husband and to take care of the family. Nonetheless, life would not be that simple when we have yet fulfilled the mission assigned to us by the Universe.

I have also encountered a lot of scandals falling from nowhere, have been discriminated against and been forced into so many difficult places that I had no idea what they were. However, again, thanks to those difficulties, I decided that it was the time to “tear the cocoon” once more, as I chose to become a Coach and brought Truly Inspired into action – with the mission and desire to help and inspire as many people as possible to change for the better, just like what I have been doing for myself.

Since then, I have continued to walk on the path of conquering the mission with my lovely colleagues in our team. Although we still face loads of difficulties, we will never back down and will still stand up again to continue our journey of fulfilling our mission, because we did not come this far just to give up. “God has given birth to me, and there must be a place for me to shine!”

So, my dear friend, if I could go back in time, I would not say anything to my past self besides a “thank you”. Thank you to the person in the past who was willing to change, dared to walk, always devoted to life, faced and overcame all difficulties to give me – the present Nga Hồ – a better future with a better quality of life than the “yesterdays” a lot. Thank you for all your hard work and efforts throughout the time. I will definitely hug every Nga Hồ in every stage in my life to say the most loving, encouraging and comforting words.

Everyone has their own pathways of self-development. You may be successful sooner or later than many others, but I firmly believe that each event, person, and experience that comes to you always has its own meaning and requires you to have a lot of patience so that you can fully acquire the life wisdoms and lessons through those incidents. Stay focused and see if you can acknowledge your own missions through those follow-up lessons.

Thanks to the past suffering and deprivation, you will have the opportunity to think about changing your life for the greater good. Thanks to the times of “falling in love” mindlessly and ending up hurting yourself, you have somehow begun to “brighten your eyes” and know how to upgrade yourself, love yourself more, begin to have better standards for love and gradually attract all the best Mr/Ms. Right to your life, am I right?

Thanks to the times you failed, you have got the motivation to conquer more. Thanks to your unstoppable efforts, good results will definitely come your way, right?

So, my dear friend, if you can use Doraemon’s magic door to go back and meet your past self, you should immediately run over and wrap them in your arms immediately!

Whisper to them how much you love them, thank them for trying so hard, show them your gratitudes for all the struggles they have gone through for you to become who you are today. Acknowledge all their accomplishments, whether large or small, because they are all your own efforts anyway.

Stop demeaning, criticising, regretting and tormenting yourself. Accept your own flaws because everyone always has their flaws, and those flaws’ presence is to remind you to accept you for who you are and try to rise higher. When you love yourself, you can open your heart to love and support others too. If you cling to your past sins and mistakes, you will only haunt and despise yourself, and your motivation to live a beautiful life will also gradually get lost.

Life does not have too many occurrences and opportunities for you to actually thank your past self, so you should always cultivate and learn to always be ready to seize every change and chance that comes your way. It does not matter whether we will do well or not, just grasp when it comes and keep experiencing it so that when it is over, you will have the opportunity to thank and appreciate our past self for those valuable life lessons.

Much love,
Truly Inspired