Einstein made some of his greatest discoveries with thought experiments. One of his most famous experiments was imagining he was traveling at the speed of light. What would that be like? This thought experiment ultimately led to his discovery of the special theory of relativity. Here is thought experiment about writing a letter to your grandchildren.

Suppose you are hiking, you break a glass bottle on the trail and it creates shards of glass. If you don’t clean it up, a child walking somewhere behind you will cut themselves on one of those shards. Does it matter if it is an hour later, a day later, a week later or a year later? No. Harm is harm and pain is pain. The passage of time – even a great deal of time, doesn’t lessen the help you can give some people. 

The point is that just because some of your descendants are not living in the present moment, doesn’t mean they count less. They are still your family and your descendants. 

We look at the future as in front of us. The past is behind us. But, you can also look at it as your descendants are following behind you. They will come down a similar path to your current path. Pick up the broken glass. Leave them a compass and a map. Leave them an encouraging letter and help them succeed.