How are you similar to yourself 10 years ago? How are you different?

Hi @nikipedia ! Long time no see! Glad you stopped by.

It will be 10 years for me in August of this year also. The big changes for me was that 2 members of my family have died. I got very sick myself last fall, but have mostly fully recovered. I have a different job now than I did 10 years ago and mostly like it. I love the people I work with. But basically, things have remained the same.
Tell us about you!

I was not even born back then.

In the last ten years I bought a flat, I retired from work and I found a girlfriend. Otherwise I am just the same.

I was 7 years old. Not a care in the world. Thought everything was perfect

Hi!

Ten years ago I was new to the internet and really had no clue what I was doing, especially when I joined Fluther. December will be my 10 yr flutherversary. I had a 4 yr old and two teens and I was a stay at home mom. I liked small towns and spoke highly of them.

Now I hate small towns. I despise the rural redneck conservative people who live here. Well, most of them. There are some nice people here. My youngest is now 14 and came out as transgender last year. I’m a proud and protective mama bear and transgender advocate/ally. My oldest sons are in their mid-20s and supporting themselves.

My husband and I are moving our youngest to a city that’s more liberal near the eastern shores of Lake Michigan. I’m studying to become a medical coder and looking forward to starting a new career. I can’t wait to live near beaches and so many lakes to enjoy all of the outdoor activities I love. I’ve been cooped up in this small town for far too long and can’t wait to start living again.

@nikipedia! How nice to see you after such a long time. I’ve missed you.

I’m in my tenth year too and will mark that milestone in November. When I joined Fluther, I had no idea what I was getting into (or I’d have picked a different name and avatar). I did leave for two years, but came back for Gail in October of 2015 and have stayed since then.

Since 2008, I’ve retired from a job in high tech, seen my elder son graduate from law school, seen my younger through some very tough times, and found out what it’s like to live with chronic illnesses and pain, my own and others’. I’m closer to oncoming decrepitude than I was ten years ago, but I think my brains are still mostly working, although vocabulary and memory retention are seeing some erosion.

Nonetheless, I’m still what they call a lifelong learner. I dig into new material and practice new skills all the time. And I believe my father’s teaching: “It’s not the answers that are important. It’s the questions.” He was a philosopher.

Probably the biggest change is the forced lessons I’ve had to learn through witnessing close up the effects of substance abuse. I’ve had to discover and try to mend a lot of shortcomings in myself, around boundaries and control and other obstacles to serenity. It’s an ongoing challenge.

I’ve burnt a few bridges and built a few others, and I hope I’ve gained as much as I’ve lost.

Thank you for asking. And how about you?

Lots of rotten things have happened to me in the last nine years: my husband had a kidney removed, we moved away from my dream home into this average home, then he had thyroid cancer and had half that removed followed by falling down in the hospital and having a hip replacement, a close friend of mines husband has brain cancer and is on chemo and radiation, she had a seizure and three mini strokes and broke her knee in a fall…let’s see…my grandson showed up on some drug or drugs from an adjoining state acting like a lunatic and was in college within five days all on my ticket. Is ticket the word? He’s working, making good grades and appears to be behaving himself. Time and my bank account will tell.
I am nervous most of the time . And I want my big house back.

I’m still shy and quiet. Probably always will be.

I am still self employed, driving the same pick-up truck for the biz.
Now I take medicine for high blood pressure!

B.S. does not illicit such shock and awe like it once did. None of that sort of thing surprises me anymore. I have basically written off a significant portion of the population and it’s generally the people who are ideological and on the political fringes (which sadly is most people I would otherwise get along with) I used to think there was hope for these people but that was a naive assumption. I still engage in a debate every now and then but I’m really just interested in doing my thing and aging out as gracefully as I can without becoming an alcoholic, getting cancer, heart disease or dying in a motorcycle crash. I keep thinking to myself “good luck with that” I’m burning out in my career and am almost too old to start over again. My marriage is lackluster through no fault of my own nor is it the fault of my spouse so we trudge on together if just for the companionship, children were not in the cards for us. On occasion I meet people who restore my faith in humanity but that is exceedingly rare. I’m more cynical and pessimistic than I was ten years ago. The drive is gone and I simply don’t care like I once did. To be honest, it’s liberating. letting go of all that you once worked for, dreamed about and hoped to be was the single most powerful epiphany that I have yet experienced. It’s sad that it takes about 35–40 years to not give a shit anymore. I wish that it had happened sooner.

And life expectancy for a man is still 76.6 years! (Women 81.6)
If you beat the odds, you win!

Ten years ago I still held hope that a good doctor could help me get better.
I now know I can’t get better, I can only get worse slower, with a personalized treatment plan.

I have a new resolve. Laws, hell! If it helps me feel better, and I can get it, I will.

Ten years ago I was in a so-so marriage with a happy relationship with my children who lived relatively nearby (within two hours away.) Six years ago my marriage was ended unilaterally. Now my kids live far away and have spouses and children and one family I rarely get o see. Although I have not relocated, I have had to make my life anew as a single person. I’ve become much more self-reliant and competent and had lots of new experiences such as traveling to Cuba. I’ve joined a Unitarian congregation which has become a community for me. I’ve also renewed my love of painting. There has been great pain as well as much happiness in the past 10 years.

I’m a ten year veteran of Fluther as well.

( @nikipedia Great to see you here!)

I still wear hoodies almost every day. I thought that might have been a high school thing, but still going strong.

Sorry, I don’t have much of a long thought-out answer. I feel more self-aware now than I did at 17. I feel like I was just letting things happen back then, going through the motions, and now I have more control over my life and more direction. I’m able to not just express my positions on things but actually say why I believe them. I can’t get away with not thinking anymore. In a way I have become more jaded. Similar to @ARE_you_kidding_me, I’ve come to see more easily the BS from all sides and I’ve grown more skeptical of people who are wholly convinced of their righteousness. Despite that, I’m actually more happy now than I was 10 years ago. I have many more passions now.

@Demosthenes I’m 47 and I still wear hoodies all the time. :)

@Aethelwine I still do too at 42, I was rocking hoodies looong before they were cool.

It really freaks me out that 2008 was a decade ago. High school doesn’t feel that distant to me. Time is weird these days.

Pretty much everything has changed since 2008 though. I was a high school sophomore. I hadn’t learned the first thing about what was important in life. I judged people for stupid reasons. I had only gone through one health incident was was 100% in denial about it ever happening again. The only thing that really mattered to me was school and I hadn’t learned how to think beyond myself even a little bit.