The other day I was shredding my big bag of papers(!) per this year’s list, when I noticed a $319 charge for Ancestry.com on an old debit account statement. “That’s strange,” I thought.“That purchase is completely unfamiliar. I wish I’d noticed the charge earlier so I could have disputed it.” A few moments later I found a letter from the bank confirming that they were refunding the charge. Turns out, all those years ago, I had disputed it.
Then I found a check for over $2,000 that had never been endorsed and deposited. I was quite flabbergasted. As I held it, I had to acknowledge that it was far too late to do anything about it. Then I saw a duplicate check for the exact sum that had in fact been endorsed and deposited. A faint memory returned: an old job had sent a duplicate check in error and asked me to destroy it (which I finally did).
These two examples reminded me to trust that my past self was competent. And my future self will likely be at least as competent. That’s all. Trust your past and future selves.
