WOULD THE YOU OF THE FUTURE BE PROUD OF THE YOU OF TODAY?

A friend recently asked me, “What would 5-year-old Sabrina want in life?”

I sat there picturing 5-year-old Sabrina.

(Here she is below, I mean pretty adorable if I do say so myself)

What worries did I have back then?

Who did I picture I would become?

Would that little girl in this picture be proud of who I am today?

Like most millennials, I grew up feeling all my feels alongside Adele. She is one year older than I am, almost to the day, so her progression of feelings, emotions, internal battles were something I could genuinely feel because I, too, was there in life.

When the song “Hello” came out, I was working at a bar on Friday nights until 1 AM, and there is nothing that a drunk 21-year-old loves more than what they think is a heartbreak belt-out song, so this song was played often.

I recently came across an interview where Adele explains the lyrics to the song, and boy, did it hit more profoundly for me as a 32-year-old than it did for the group of 21-year-olds drunk on a Friday night after their first heartbreak.

Adele explained that this song was her trying to reconnect with herself.

Adele says, “When I was 7, I wanted to be 8. When I was 8, I wanted to be 12. When I turned 12, I wanted to be 18. I always wanted to be older. I wanted to be shorter, too. I was 5'9”, but I wanted to be 5'7". I always wanted to be someone else.”

She is talking to herself. She is talking to the younger version of her asking herself the same questions that we ask ourselves, would you be proud of who I am today?

Here are Adele’s lyrics. Read them again knowing she is speaking to her younger self.

Hello, it’s meI was wondering if after all these years you’d like to meetTo go over everythingThey say that time’s supposed to heal yaBut I ain’t done much healing

Hello, can you hear me?I’m in California dreaming about who we used to beWhen we were younger and freeI’ve forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet

There’s such a difference between usAnd a million miles

Hello from the other sideI must’ve called a thousand timesTo tell you I’m sorry for everything that I’ve doneBut when I call, you never seem to be home

Hello from the outsideAt least I can say that I’ve triedTo tell you I’m sorry for breaking your heartBut it don’t matter, it clearly doesn’t tear you apart anymore

So, let’s change the lyrics to fit caregiving and the situation that we are finding ourselves in and then ask ourselves if we will be proud of who we will become after who we are today.

Hello, can you hear me?I’m ELBOWS DEEP IN MAKING APPOINTMENTS AND MEDICATION REFILLS

dreaming about who we used to beWhen we were younger and freeI’ve forgotten how it felt before WE PUT EVERYONE BEFORE ‘ME’

There’s such a difference between usAnd a million miles

Hello from the CAREGIVINGsideI WILL PROBABLY CALL a thousand timesTo tell you I’m sorry for everything that I PUT LAST FOR USBut when I call, you never seem to be home

Hello from the CAREGIVINGAt least I can say that I’ve triedTo tell you I’m sorry for NEVER COMING FIRSTI HOPE THAT NOW IT DOES NOT MATTER AND YOUR HAPPINESS CAN BURST

HELLO FROM THE CAREGIVING SIDE

I HOPE YOU KNOW THAT I REALLY TRIED

TO MAKE SURE YOU LOOKED HAPPY ON THE OUTSIDE

BUT MY GOAL IS THAT NOW YOU’VE FOUND A WAY TO BE HAPPY ON THE INSIDE

HELLO FROM THE OUTSIDE

BELIEVE ME, I KNOW YOU WANTED TO PROVIDE

THE CARE FOR EVERYONE ELSE

AND I PROMISE YOU NOW I COME FIRST.

What would you want to tell your younger self? Would they be proud?

Now, keep that in mind and remember one day this will be the younger version of you. Will the future you be proud of who you are TODAY? What can you do to make sure that you in the future is HAPPY, HEALTH, and PROUD of YOU?!

BE THAT PERSON, BE THAT VERSION, BE THE PERSON TODAY THAT THE PERSON TOMORROW WILL BE PROUD TO HAVE KNOWN.

WOULD THE YOU OF THE FUTURE BE PROUD OF THE YOU OF TODAY? was originally published in I-Ally on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.