It’s easy to frame this as humiliating or embarrassing. But really, it just means you’ve grown as a person. If you could look back on yourself 10 years ago and think they were always great then it would mean you’ve failed to grow. You can always better yourself.

Repeat every few years.

25 year old me looking at how stupid 25 year old me is today ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

Ngl, this terrifies me. Because I know exactly how dumb I was ten years ago. And then I agonize about the decisions I make today - am I going to look back in ten years and feel the regret about who I am now that I do about who I used to be?

It can be paralyzing, or I end up tending to make the safest, least risky choice, for fear of “doing it wrong” rather than what might make me happiest or serve me best

Am I the only one who can conjure younger versions of myself in my head for a check-in in meditative exercises?

I’m 40 and 19 year old me’s only real shock is that I’ve let it go on this long. We’re still largely on the same page, and understand the nature of the few discrepancies, even if I don’t necessarily agree with myself.

As much as I hate it, I hope I think the same 10 years from now

The alternative is to feel like you already knew “everything” at that earlier age… which can’t be true and simply denotes stagnation in your development.

You’re supposed to look back to any point in your past and say “I know a lot more now than I knew back then”. Which won’t always be the case, but if you find that you’ve “peaked” for a long period, chances are you just closed off your mind to new information.

Learn, learn, traumatize someone you care deeply about without meaning to, learn, learn, that person dies. Learn some more, then some more, then die.

Am I’m my 40s now. Can confirm 20s me and 30s me made stupid decisions bit that’s life.

Guess I’m at stage 2…

Isn’t this growing up since right?