Though maybe he should have seen this coming.

It’s pretty safe to say that no one enjoys doing their taxes. Looking back at all the time you spent working over the past year and being reminded that you only got to keep part of what you earned isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, nor is spending all the time and going through all the hassle of filling out and filing forms, especially since you might end up being told you owe even more.

But hey, it’s got to be done, and with the year winding down, Japanese Twitter user @zaccoy2 started getting his paperwork together. To make things easier, he’d kept several of the documents he knew he’d need together in a bundle, but when he opened it up, there was something unusual mixed in among the pay slips and receipts: an envelope containing two 10,000-yen (US$87) bills!

But what’s even cooler is the message written on the envelope, which reads:

“You’ve really been working hard! If you find yourself feeling worn out mentally or physically, go ahead and spend this on whatever you want!”

And who was the thoughtful person giving @zaccoy2 this present and permission to use it however he wants?

“From,
Past Me”

None other than @zaccoy2 himself, who stuck the cash in his tax paperwork folder a year ago, taking it on faith that he’d be working hard for the year to come and deserved to treat himself to something nice.

“You really do understand me, Past Me!” tweeted @zaccoy2, full of self-gratitude, followed by “Now how should I spend this? Yakiniku dinner? Hot spring trip?”

That’s still up in the air, but other Twitter users have come to the conclusion that this was a very clever, and heartwarming, thing to do.

“’Past Me’ sounds like a great guy.”
“Really thoughtful of him to look ahead like that.”
“Now I feel like Present Me should do something nice for Future Me.”
“Sometimes I leave a little cash in the pocket of a jacket I don’t wear that often, so that I’ll get a nice surprise the next time I do.”

Several commenters also wondered if they’d be able to forget they’d left a present for their future selves, and wondered if that might dampen their surprise a year later. @zaccoy2 doesn’t say whether he’d completely forgotten about what Past Me had done, but either way, it’s always good to have a reminder that if you’ve been working hard, it’s OK to reward yourself, especially when that reminder is also coming from yourself.

Source: Twitter/@zaccoy2 via Jin
Images: Twitter/@zaccoy2
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