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BHUMIJA RISHI

LETTER FROM MY FUTURE

01 January 2035

To
Dear Grandpa
New Year’s Greetings!

I hope you are in the pink of health. I am also sailing in the same boat. You would be delighted
to know that I am now the Vice-President of Weber Shandwick (one of the world’s most
prestigious Public Relations firms). The problems of my teenage years and early twenties have
waned away. Whenever I failed at algebra, I remember you telling me to relax. I distinctly
recall your calming influence and assurance that ninth grade mathematics grades have no
influence on my career. I wished I had heeded your advice then and not worried so much. But
I have INTJ (Introverted Intuitive Thinking and Judging) personality traits. I just cannot help
overthinking and analyzing everything!
My asthma is under control now. I am married now and blessed with two lovely daughters.
My husband is my best friend and the best man I have met in my life. He is incredibly
supportive of my dreams and career. I have a close-knit circle of four friends. I genuinely
appreciate the fact that you were always there for me when I needed you the most. The best
way to show gratitude towards a loved one is to tell them that you do not take their care for
granted.

I have evolved immensely as a woman in the past 13 years. The most important way I have
changed is that I have become much more forgiving, forgiving towards others but also myself.
I have realized that nothing is permanent in life. I recall my PCC group discussions in college
about mindfulness. Maybe I was not old enough to appreciate it then but I definitely understand
today the importance about being mindful. It is only when we live in the moment that we can
enjoy the little things in life. I regret spending my entire teenage and early twenties panicking
about trivial issues (like unrequited crushes). I wish I was more mindful of the fact that I was
just wasting my time on things that have no consequence on my life whatsoever. I wish I had
listened to my PCC community and their advice to relax, smile more and not take life so
seriously. Anyhow, I do that now.
My ladder of inference was also really messed up right since my childhood till my late twenties.
I only heard what I wanted to hear. I also judged people, especially those whose personality
types and leadership styles were not the same. I am an introvert and I deemed that extroverts
are loud, bossy, dominating and inherently shallow. It took me a lot of life experience to
understand that I am projecting my inherent biases into the world and believing them even if
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BHUMIJA RISHI

there is little to no truth in them. Maybe because I am a loyalist (as per a personality test called
enneagram) and my weaknesses include being doubtful, reactive and negativistic. However, I
have met so many extroverts who are warm, funny and generous. I want to imbibe their skills
when it comes to dealing with people. In fact, I have realized today that just because someone
is different from me, that does not make him/her my enemy. I have become more
accommodating of personality differences. I understand that even though I have a quiet
leadership style, someone may have a more assertive and domineering leadership style. There
have been cases wherein their competency to get work done has been infinitely more than me.
I am longing to hear from you and granny. Write back to me often!
Yours forever
Bhumija