The future is something that always seems so far away and yet, the future is every single day. It is something we try to plan until life get’s in the way of it. It’s unpredictable and we can only hope that it turns out the way we wish for it to do. Right now, it’s 2035 and I am 47 years old. Twenty years ago, I felt scared thinking about where I would be at this point of my life. I kind of had an idea, hopes and dreams, but getting there is never easy, no matter how old you are. I was unsure what was right for me and what I really wanted but I knew that I would have to make these decisions all by myself. This is my life and I am the person who has to live it, so nobody ever got a saying in what is right or wrong. Until today, this has never changed. I am me and I am exactly who and where I want to be. I wish my three-years-away-from-thirty-year-old-self would have known that, all these years ago.

Since I was born, I moved around a couple of times and lived in completely different environments. For the most part, I lived in the countryside and I always knew that it was somewhere I couldn’t live forever. The older I got, the more boring it became. Not much to do, you meet the same people everywhere and personally, I never saw a chance for a future how I imagined mine to be. I always felt like a city girl and that’s why I chose London to be my home. I moved here a while ago and it was the best decision I ever made. I admit, the weather can still be a little annoying, but the rest of this great city makes up for it. I just always wanted to live somewhere highly multicultural because I’ve always loved influences from all over the world and from several visits, I just felt that London is just the right city for me. I also wanted to live somewhere that is not too far away from my family and I actually fly back and forth a lot. I still have my parents, I enjoy spending time with my brother, and I have five god children whom I love dearly and who always tell people that their “cool auntie who travels the world” is coming for a visit. I think it’s awesome to be called that, even though they are teenagers and one of them is in his mid-twenties. I guess I must have done something right.

I don’t have any children myself because it was never a part of what I planned for my life. Honestly, I love kids and I’ve always been good with them, but I just never saw me having my own. I also never found a man I would have liked to have children with and single mother was definitely nothing I wanted to be. I am unmarried because I choose to be. And I kept my bad taste in men pretty much all my life so it wouldn’t have been a possibility even if I had wanted to. I myself was never easy to handle as well and I got used to the fact that I am undateable, a long time ago. I don’t mind any of this because therefore, I get to live my life exactly how I want to without any compromisation. I know that compromisation is not even an actual word but still, I constantly use it because I think that the whole exhausting process should have it’s own word. It’s something I’m really not good at. All my life, just the thought of moving in with a man seemed so wrong for me. I never tried because there was never someone worth trying with. I need my space and I want it to look the way I want. I know, I sound selfish and maybe that’s what I am but at least I admit it. And trust me, me and my taste are a lot for a man to handle, especially under one roof. I never lost my addiction to everything pink or Disney and it all needs it’s place in my surrounding. For some people this might sound sad but trust me, I am happy. I have the greatest friends in the world and some of them I even know more than half of my life. My family is wonderful and there is not much more I could ask for. That doesn’t mean that I don’t date. I’ve been in relationships and by now, I’ve even made some good experiences, but nothing was meant to last forever. I like it this way. Maybe because I am used to it. Maybe because it was my decision. Either way, I am happy.

I’m living the life I always wanted to live and I get paid for what I love most: writing. When I finally managed to write my first book, and it actually became a bestseller, it was the greatest and proudest day of my life. It allowed me to live a creative life and actually get paid for it. I didn’t have to apply for a 9 to 5 job and suddenly the world was at my feet. Gone were all my worries about the future and I just really started living. I never stopped. I get inspired from everywhere I go and from every person I meet and that is something I truly cherish. I’ve been to so many amazing places that I sometimes have to pinch myself to see if it’s not all a dream. Then I look at a stack of postcards that I have sent to myself and I know that it’s real. Ever since I moved into my own apartment, I started sending a postcard to myself from wherever I was, no matter if near or far. I just love receiving them after I have already made it back home.

I still have many years ahead of me but let’s face it, half of it is over. But it’s no problem because I am where I always hoped to be and I worked hard to get here. I live in a really nice apartment in one of the greatest cities in the world. I drive my dream car, my loft includes a library that I always wanted and a huge aquarium in my wall, which I don’t even have to clean because I can pay somebody to do it for me. I travel to the most beautiful places on every continent and I work while I explore every inch of the earth. This year, I am heading to New Zealand and I am beyond excited to enjoy the beauty of it. I write for a living and this is truly what matter most to me. I could surrender everything I have, but I couldn’t survive working in any other job. I write books, articles and have my own column. Every day I feel like Carrie Bradshaw, except for that Mr. Big part. It’s the greatest blessing to do what you love and I am really grateful for everything I have.

Although I could stay at home everyday if I wanted to, I don’t. I was like this when I was younger but inspiration doesn’t always come flying through your open window. Everyone is living the fast life and you have to be quick if you don’t want to fall behind. Just recently, I bought myself this incredible machine that saves me so much time, in the morning. Through the years, I’ve gotten better at leaving the house without make-up but I’ve never really felt comfortable without a little something in my face. So the best invention ever lets me select a style, hold my face into it and it applies make-up to it in a couple of minutes. And trust me, it is flawless. Yes, it costs a lot of money but it was worth every penny. I hope they find a way to make these transportable so I can take it with me when I travel. It’s incredible what people come up with. I am still thankful for the person who found a simple and affordable way to include light in a purse, shopper or any other bag women carry around. Even that saves me so much time, since I don’t need to dump the whole content onto the floor, in order to find my lipstick or keys.

Looking back, I’ve done everything right and that is the best feeling ever. It didn’t always go smoothly but you learn from your mistakes and grow stronger from disappointments. For all I know, I probably wouldn’t be as successful as I am, if I would have been successful at finding love. It’s what I write about and it’s what I know and I don’t mind sharing my experiences. I like to call it sweet revenge. Writing a book about bad ex-boyfriends is so much classier than destroying tires. Now that I’m known everywhere for exactly that, I will probably never find a good man but I can live with that. The world is my partner and our relationship is amazing. I wouldn’t want it to be any other way. At the end of my life, I want to look back and feel nothing but happiness. Sure, I might ask myself “what if?” but I’m sure everyone does that once in a while. Life happens no matter what you do but life is also what you make it and I made mine incredible. And the fact that I made it all by myself makes the feeling even better.

(This essay was written for a weekend class. We had instructions to include  where we live, what we do for fun, who we live with, how we earn money, what our travel plans are and we also had to describe the living  conditions and any new and inventive items/gadgets that were invented.)