A Letter to my Future Self
写给未来自己的一封信

In 1994 I wrote a letter. I stuck it in an envelope, put it away and completely forgot about it.
1994年我写了一封信，我把它装进信封收起来，就完全忘记了。

It wasn't until we moved into our new home in 2006 that I found it again. It was addressed to me with explicit instructions not to open until my birthday 2005. It was now 2006 so I decided to open it. This is what it said:
直到2006年我们搬到新家，我才又发现了这封信。收信人是我自己，而且明确说明一定到2005年我生日的时候才能打开，那时候已经是2006年，所以我决定打开它。信里这样写道：

Dear Sherri,
亲爱的Sherri：

By the time you read this you will be 30. At the age of 18 I had so many hopes and dreams about where you'd be, what you'd be doing and with whom you'd spend your life with.
你读这封信的时候已经30岁了。18岁的我有很多的关于未来的希望和梦想：你会在哪里生活，你会做什么工作，你会和谁共度一生。

Right now I hope that you have traveled and seen everything you've always wanted to, both in Canada and overseas, and maybe even settled down somewhere in Australia doing some research in the field of biology (genetics).
我希望你已经去过了所有你想去的地方，看过了所有你感兴趣的东西，不管是在加拿大还是国外。也许现在你已经在澳大利亚的某处安顿下来，做着生物学（遗传学）领域的研究工作。

I hope you're married to the man of your dreams. The man of mine is Gwynn. He is originally from South Africa (another place I wish to visit).
我希望你已经嫁给了你的梦中情人。我的梦中情人叫Gwynn，他来自南非（另一个我心神往之的地方）。

You'll probably have two children of your own – a girl(Michaela Anne) and a boy (name yet to be decided).
你应该有了两个自己的孩子：一个男孩一个女孩。女孩叫Michaela Anne，男孩的名字还没想好。

If everything goes according to plan you'll be living in Australia in a big house in a small town outside of a big city with a lot of land, a dog, Gwynn and your two beautiful children. Hopefully you have a career in the medical field, maybe doing research in genetics. Gwynn will be a computer programmer and you will be doing alright for yourselves.
如果一切按计划进行，那现在的你会和Gwynn还有两个孩子，一起生活在澳大利亚某个大城市外的小镇上，房子很大，有很多地，养一只狗。希望你是从事医药行业的工作，也可能是做遗传学研究。Gwynn会是计算机程序员，你们一切安好。

However, if things don't go according to plan for you, I wish you all the love, happiness and joy in the world and don't settle for anything less than the best since that is absolutely what you deserve.
不过就算生活没有按你的计划进行，我也祝你拥有世上所有的爱、幸福和快乐。在遇到最好的之前，别让自己停下来，因为你绝对值得拥有最好的生活。

Live long, be happy and live life to it's fullest.
好好活着，要快乐，要活到最精彩。

Love Sherri "18"
爱你的18岁的Sherri

When I read this for the first time since writing it I was floored. Even now having dug this up again another 4 years later I still can't help but think this is really cool.
第一次读这封信的时候我诧异不已。就算四年后的今天再次拿出来读，我也还是觉得这真的是很帅的想法。

So much of what I wanted for myself has materialized.
那么多我想要的都已经实现了：

I did travel to a few more places in Canada although I haven't seen everything I'd like to.
我真的去过加拿大很多地方旅行，虽然现在我还没有把我想看的东西通通看过；

I did marry the man of my dreams and yes he still is my one and only.
我确实嫁给了我的梦中情人，对，他是我的唯一；

I've traveled to the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
我去过英国、南非、澳大利亚和新西兰；

I lived in Australia for nearly 4 years in a big house, in a small suburb, in a major city (close enough).
我在澳大利亚的一个大城市住了快四年，我们住在郊区的大房子里（跟梦想很接近了）；

I had a career in Biology in the field of genetics for 10 years.
我有一份生物学遗传领域的工作，干了有十年了；

I have two lovely kids—both boys (names now decided).
我有两个可爱的孩子—不过都是男孩（名字都定了）；

I have not one dog but two dogs. Both yellow labs from Australia.
我现在养着两只狗，都是产自澳大利亚的黄色拉布拉多犬；

Gwynn is a computer programmer.
Gwynn是计算机程序员；

We are doing okay for ourselves.
我们一切安好。

After writing this I quickly forgot about what I had put in here actually. The things that materialized were all met with quite a bit of resistance (all internal) but I suppose these were things that I really did want. Having never strayed too far from home overseas travel was a huge deal. Having never been away from my family moving to Australia for several years was an incredibly huge decision.
其实写完这篇文章我就很快忘了自己写了些什么。所有我实现的梦想，都曾经遭遇了一些内心的挣扎，但是我很确定，这些就是我想要的。对于从未离家太远的我来说，出国旅行是大事；对于从未离开过家人的我来说，搬到澳大利亚住几年也是重要的决定。

I find it fascinating how the dreams of a young and naive little girl can become a grown woman's reality.
看着一个年轻幼稚的小女孩的梦想成为一个成熟女人的真实生活，这个感觉很美好。

I'm curious if you guys have ever written anything to your future self and how it stacks up to your current reality. If you haven't, will you join me in writing a letter now to yourself in say 10 years from now? It's an interesting little experiment.
我很好奇你们有没有给未来的自己写过信，然后看着它们一点点堆积成为你现在的生活。如果还没写过，那不如加入我，现在拿起笔，给十年后的自己写封信吧，这是种有趣的经历。