There is this viral social media challenge that has been going around on the likes of Facebook and Instagram called the #howharddidaginghityouchallenge or the #10yearchallenge. It requires you to post an image of yourself from 2009 alongside an image of yourself from 2019. Giving you the opportunity to reflect on how far you’ve come, where you currently are in your life’s journey and where you’d eventually like to be 10 more years from now.
This challenge only gives the spectators and commentators the ability to see how you have physically changed in the span of 10 years – aka your #glowup.
My interaction with social media occurs 95% via my smartphone, so explaining me in 2009 compared to me in 2019 was not something I cared to take the time to type out on such a small device. Plus, I felt it would be the perfect topic to start my blog with.
In 2009, I just had my first child (my son Alex) in December of 2008 and five years of marriage under my adult belt. We lived in a beautiful townhome in a lovely neighborhood in a quickly developing city. I had been at my job for 8 years and life was good…on the surface.
Fast forward to 10 years later, 2019. I’ve added a second child (my daughter Mya) who is now 5 years-old, and I’ve been married for 14 years and separated for four. I left my job of 13 years and I’ve been sharing a residence with my sister and my niece, which sounds like a sitcom in the making — but really isn’t, for the last 2.5 years. If I were to compare my 2009 me to my 2019 me I would have to say that me at 2009 was somewhat comfortable (but still waiting for that inevitable shoe to drop – more on that in a future post) while coasting along and me at 2019 is determined to make up for four previous years of unpredictability and being at a complete standstill while watching everyone else live life… #stillawaitingmyglowup.
[see companion post: mixtape: Memory Lame]
Appreciate the recommendation. Will try it out.