A letter to a younger web developer

I turned 45 maybe five days ago. And this being my birthday month, I'm feeling whimsical.

You know how people ask what you'd say to your younger self? Well, in the unlikely event I was able to travel back in time to converse with the insecure, messed up individual I was back in my twenties, this is probably what I would say.

"Son, I know you're going through crazy times. That's how I remember them."

"You're going to have people come up to you and tell you how much money you should be having in your bank account at this age. Where you should be in your career. That you should be married. That you should have a kid on the way."

"You know what? Fuck these people. All of 'em. They make the same mistake everyone else does - they assume you want something just because they want it. None of them suspect, even for a moment, that you have zero intention of being even a little bit like them. If they had enough honesty with themselves, they would question what exactly was so special and unique about them, that anyone would want what they have."

Honest talk with self.

"But that's people. People are only good at being themselves. They're not good at being you."

"You know who's good at being you? No, it's not you. Don't listen to yourself - you're young and stupid and you don't know shit. Listen to me. I have had 45 years of experience being you. There is no one on this planet more qualified than I am, to talk about being you."

"So don't be kind to yourself. Be kind to me. Stop drinking. Stop fucking around. You are enjoying a position of immense privilege. You're a web developer. You code. Not only that, unlike just about everyone else who merely tolerate their jobs, you actually love what you do. You're part of an industry that will boom in the next few decades. Get your act together and ride that wave. You don't have to be the best at what you do. You don't even have to be above-average. You just have to be not mind-numbingly incompetent. And everything will come."

"Oh, and remember how you're now laughing at your friends who are married, and how they panic every time they get a missed call from the wife? How they have to go home early, and how they have to watch everything they do? Keep laughing, boy. Laugh while you can. In twenty years, you'll be the joke."

That's all!

I'm bad at ending letters, but this seemed a good place to stop. Is this a little short? Well, maybe... but less is more, right?

Your older web developer,
T___T