People have told me all my life: “You’ll see, you’ll see. Just wait until you have to pay rent, just wait until you get married, just wait until you have a child, just wait until you have two.” And what they mean is “just wait and see the trouble you’re in for, just wait and see how badly things will go when it’s your turn.”
In every case, that “you’ll see” never came true for me.
That whole “you’ll see” comes from thinking: “You’re not going to be better than me, you’re going to mess it up just like I did.” When they tell you “you’ll see,” they’re essentially saying: “I thought I was smart, believed I was going to succeed in life, followed the typical path everyone does: job, car, wife, and kids, and now my life is a complete mess. You’ll see how the same thing is going to happen to you. I know better than you; I’ve understood things you haven’t grasped yet. Listen to my wisdom; hear the voice of experience. You’ll see.”
They tell you, “If it happened to me, it will happen to you too. You’re not special; you’re just like everyone else, and when you live a little longer, things will go as badly for you as they did for me. You’ll see how everything falls apart and you won’t have time for anything. You’ll see that you can’t find a way out of the maze either. Come, have a coffee with me and tell me how right I was. Admit that how I messed up is normal because this happens to everyone.”
This is my answer: “You’ll see how crappy your life will be if continue to think that way, you’ll see how you degrade yourself, you’ll see how I’m going to prove you wrong, show that it is possible- yes, it is possible-to escape the maze. There’s always a way out. You sit in the maze and don’t know where to go. I know the way out, I memorized the path when I was sixteen. You’ve just realized that you’re in a maze and you’re too deep in to know how to escape. I prepare myself, I study and I constantly analyze my life. Don’t make me admit that I’m like you.”
You realized this too late. You let yourself be cornered, and now you don’t know how to get out. But since you don’t like to admit it, you tell me, “You’ll see.” No, “You’ll see” is not an acceptable response. Being foolish, mediocre, and predictable is your fault; don’t include me.
