The Aging Challenge

I'm the person who swears not to give into the mainstream bandwagons.
Back when Twitter was a big thing and everyone was talking about it, I swore I would never make an account.
When old people send me "repost this, or something bad will happen to you in 12 hours," I ignore it.
When these "challenges" come across my social media, I try hard to resist the urge to give into it.
I mean, who in the world actually starts these things? That's the real question.

The last bandwagon that I've seen is this 'aging challenge,' where people post a picture of themselves from 10 years ago and then a more recent one.
It's kind of funny to see certain people be like 'OMG I have changes so much' and they really haven't.
Okay, maybe they look like they have gained a few more wrinkles, but you know, deep down, that they still act the same ole way they always have.

I wasn't going to give in to this 'challenge.'
And then I thought, what did I look like 10 years ago.
And then I thought, dude, I was 13 years old ten years ago.
Ten years is a long time, but I sure do feel a whole lot older than to be able to say "Ten years ago, I was thirteen."

Why am I giving in to this 'challenge,' you may be asking.

After I looked at some pictures from ten and nine and eight years ago, I realized how much change has entered my life in that short of a time period.

I mean, think about it.

You must know, or know of, an eight or ten year old.

You think of them as super young and subconsciously know that they have so much ahead of them; so much growing up to do, so much learning to undergo, and so many years to live.

Ten years may seem like a lot, but it isn't.

And in that short amount of time, so much change takes place.

From thirteen to twenty-three, I have grown so much.

But that is what you are supposed to do.

True, but I mean think about it.

Isn't it amazing that you are the same person, yet you are not the same person at all?

I was a dorky little girl who wanted to fit in.  

There were some years I thought I did fit in; there were some years I didn't think I fit in; and then there were the years that I didn't really care at all if I fit in or not. 

And guess what, I am still that dorky girl, just a slightly older version of her.

And I wouldn't change my quirkiness or dorkiness for anyone or anything.

I looked back at so many pictures, and I thought to myself, why in the heck did I think it was okay to post this for actual people to see.

I actually laugh out loud at my past pictures sometimes because I realize how nerdy I was back then.

I don't laugh because I am embarrassed and I would never go back and tell my younger self to be anyone but herself; because even though during all that time (and even now), she was trying to find herself, she was still beautiful.

 Something strikes me when I look back at pictures from ten years ago; pictures of me and pictures of other people I know.

There are certain moments in my life I shall never forget.

And the pictures tied closely with these events cause me to deeply reflect on the person I am and how I got to where I am today.

There is always work to do; always something you can become better at, always something you can do to improve yourself.

How interesting will it be, in ten years, to look back at these pictures of myself at twenty-three and think about how far I have come.

I like to think your best days are the ones ahead of you.

I am so blessed and have had so many wonderful memories over the past ten and twenty-three years.

I can only imagine what will become of me in the years to come.

What an interesting, challenging, beautiful next years I shall have.