Pam Answers McLaren 6

Chapter 8, question 1

[Write a letter to your former self from your current perspective]

Dear Pam,

Relax. You are good the way you are. You don’t need to aspire, strive, try to be perfect, outshine others, or gain recognition to be happy. In fact, all that stuff will be the source of your misery at least until you are 68 years old, maybe beyond. You certainly don’t need to do all those things to please God or buy your way into heaven. It won’t work anyway. Stop looking to the future and enjoy the moment you are in—nature, beauty, friends, pleasure. You rob the pleasure of the moment by thinking about “what if.” Let the “what ifs” take care of themselves. You have no control of them anyway. Telling you all this will probably not change you. Just know that all your missteps and mistakes will not be the end of the world. It will work out, so relax and enjoy.

Love,

You