People Confess What Their 10-Year-Old Self Would Never Believe About Themselves As Adults
Some of us might have done an activity in school where we were asked to write a letter to our future self. This was done to give us a plan, a road map you might say, that has us consider our future and what we hope our lives were like.
However, now that many of us are "grown-up," we can see that things we hoped and wished for when we were 10-years-old are not quite what we could have imagined.
Reddit user, yourfavbrownguyy, wanted to know how we've all changed when they asked:
"What would 10-year-old you never believe about adult you?"
As a child, your understanding of money might be a little misguided. Responsibility isn't even a word many of us could spell when we were ten, but it certainly is something we have to know about when we're grown up.
You Can Play Anything, But You Can't Play Anything
"All the video games I have but the lack of time to play them. Alas, we weep"
deecro3000
"I thought I'd outgrow them. Instead I just have less time for them."
Delta_ASP
"Man, 10 year old me would be absolutely mindblown at the idea of just pushing a couple buttons and having basically any video game or movie or TV show you want show up on your TV (which is friggin HUGE compared to the console box TV of the 80s). Same problem though - so many movies, so little time. Sigh."
TenaciousBe
What Are You Spending Your Money On?
"I don't eat candy all day."
tomNJUSA
"10 year old you: "then what's the point in having a job?""
abramcpg
This Is What I'm Spending My Money On
"that 35 year old me bought the ninja turtles arcade cabinet of my 10 year-old self's dreams."
BurnedOutStars
Jobs have a way of making you understand the value of a dollar. While some of us are able to work our "dream jobs," not all of us hit those heights, and that's a lesson we're still learning.
Having $100 Doesn't Make You A Millionaire
"That $100 is not that much money."
AnchoviePopcorn
"Holy sh-t I feel this. When you’re 10 a $20 bill feels like an endless pile of money. Then you’re an adult, and buying food is $100"
Steff_164
Numbers Are The Most Fun
"Math is actually kind of fun. And we work with numbers all day."
Bells87
"10 year old me "math is stupid and I can't wait to never have to do it again". Current me, an accountant, and I like it."
Individual_Lemon_139
There Aren't Explosions Everywhere
"I didn't end up being a ninja-spy-gangsta lady who can throw knives and rides motorcycles. Honestly, the fact that I don't do cool martial arts stuff nowadays would probably break 10yo me's heart. I don't even have a sidekick or some dangerous pet. Generally, the lack of life threatening Action and how little I enjoyed any dangerous action I ever saw would horrify 10yo me."
"I desperately wanted to be a hot antihero from a kids movie and in adult life there are shockingly few superweapons to steal, villains to counter monologue and a total lack of escaping my enemies through third floor windows in black latex suits. I don't even ever punch people in the face and the few times I had to in my life, no cool one liners were dispersed."
rat_with_a_hat
And then there's these, realizations that we've truly aged, there's no way to go back to who we were, but that's the way life is.
Not Everyone Sticks Around
"I don't talk to anybody I knew when I was 10. It's like they don't even exist anymore."
gwaaadit
"My best friends at 10 were a set of twins, Matthew and Wesley (we’re 27 now). I was close with them till the end of high school when they started getting into drugs. I haven’t talked to them in years (they don’t even respond to birthday texts). But I talk to their dad every now-and-then for updates."
zed910
The Whole Country Has Changed, Really
"I would be scandalized if 10 yo me found out I've gotten high."
jzmk3
"All those hours in D.A.R.E. gone to waste. Such a shame."
LilDudeOnBoard
"Ten year old me would be SO SHOCKED to learn that I regularly drive my mom to the dispensary so she can buy weed."
Sunshine030209
I'm Going To Be A Grandpa?
"Considering how old I thought my parents were when they were 30 is the fact that I’m a grandparent now and mostly retired would blow my ten year old mind. Ah, perspective."
dbuck1964
We Are Going To Keep Aging And Aging
"That I lived to be 58 years old. I thought 30 was old."
joszacem
"nah when I was 10 I thought 14+ year olds were basically adults. Becoming older than that was practically inconceivable."
Cheesy_Potato_Soup
"When I was a kid, for some reason I always subconsciously assumed that becoming an adult turned you into a completely different person with different interests that you wouldn't be able to relate to. I'd be really into a game I liked or a particular thing I was interested in and I'd sometimes wish "man, I really hope I still like this when I'm 25, that'd be so cool"."
"Of course I still like it. I'm the same person, just older! Getting older is a slow and gradual process, it's not like you just wake up one day and forget everything you liked when you were younger. Chances are if you found something you liked, you liked it for a reason and you can at least relate to that thought process and look back on it with nostalgia as an adult. Yes I liked Zelda games as a kid, and yes I'm sure as hell buying every new main console entry in the once-per-5-year event when a new one comes out. 10-year-old me would be surprised to hear that, even though it makes complete sense."
flameylamey
It's All Okay
"That I'm good. I'm happy. I have the family I always dreamed of having, an occasionally exciting job that gets me occasionally labeled a "hero" (such moments in reality are few and far between, but that's okay), and that I have the opportunity to pursue the things that make me happy."
"I always worried I'd grow up to be poor, jobless, or stuck working some job I couldnt stand. But somehow things have worked out."
"I'm not rich, and my life is far from perfect, but I'm happy."
"...I'm happy."
DrStrangeLoveOHILTSW
Growing up is okay. Maybe that's the thing we should be explaining to our younger selves. It's not always going to be how we like, but if we change our thinking, it'll be how we can handle it.
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Thankfully some of us aren't totally enveloped in the complete dystopia that is the USA job market.
Some of us actually love going to work every day. (Or working from home every day.)
Who are these magic beings? They live among us.
Yes, it's true. Someone YOU know loves their job.
Don't believe me? Take a look below...
u/strongerthenbefore20 asked:
[Serious] People who like their job, what do you do?
Here were some of those answers.
Cartoon Cartoons
I think up and draw cartoons. Every day. A syndicated comic for newspapers. Only learned to draw at age 43 so it's been a cool midlife turn. I'm one of those handful of people trying to be at least a fraction of what Gary Larson was/is.
Virtual Yet Practical
Matte painter for film.
It's fun and lives at the intersection between having to have artistic talent and technical experience. Honestly sometimes it can be maddening as I come from a creative background (traditional illustration and sculpture) so certain programs are like going from speaking French to speaking Chinese.
But all in all it's fun to see your work when it's composited into a film and get to see the shots before any VFX goes in.
Frankly it's surprising just how many movies use VFX and I can assure you it's almost everything you've seen including smaller independent films.
-Insert Jurassic Park Theme-
I make replicas of dinosaur fossils for museum display. The company I work for does full sized replicas, but I primarily work in the division that creates teeth and claw replicas, and a few scaled down skull replicas, for gift shops.
Carpentry Became Her
Facilities—a glorified janitor.
The position has morphed, I started by cleaning floors and toilets. Now so many of my creative strengths are used. We're updating our campus, so we build furniture, construct new walls and stages, choose paint colors, engineer unique solutions for an aging campus, and so much more. I've learned electrical, concrete work, welding, sound engineering, drywall, installation of floors, ceilings, doors, stage backdrops, you name it. If something needs be be done, we get it done. I love it.
Come Back Broadway!
Before the pandemic shut everything down I was a Broadway dresser! I got to work backstage on some awesome shows with pretty costumes and be a part of the magic, it was such a rewarding feeling.
Corporate Weather
I'm a Meteorologist. I look at weather all around the world and work directly with Fortune 500 companies to help them prepare for natural disasters.
Considering I've wanted to be a Meteorologist since I was 5, it's a dream come true and I feel blessed.
Sexy Librarian Status
I was a college librarian for 21 years up until recently and loved my job. Interacting with students, faculty, technology, having access to any normal article or book, having a sense of helping appreciative people. It was a dream. My commute was 7 minutes. Decent pay, good benefits. (I can't do chats. Sorry! My iPad can't handle them.)
Happy Place
Public Library
Everything is free.
I don't have to sell anything.
People come in because they want to be there.
I get to help people who want to be helped, or provide and environment where they can chill and relax.
They only owe money when stuff is late.
A Hard Time For This Work
I'm a social worker. Currently I work with seniors who live alone with a disability and have no family to take care of them. I plan on getting my masters and becoming a therapist. After working construction for 8 years and getting a degree in business I said screw it and followed my passion regardless of what everybody in my life said. I am so. Glad. That i made that decision.
It was really hard to get myself into the mindset that it's not too late. Once I was there though, I wasn't leaving. I put my foot down and was determined. Went to a community college, got 12 credits, working an entry level social work job and will be applying for my masters once this shit show of a pandemic is over... or maybe when i cave and decide to do online classes. Either way I feel like i'm living my dream, even though i'm not nearly where I want to be... yet.
Art Isn't Easy
Freelance illustrator and graphic designer.
I've always liked the idea of making things that are useful to people in any way, and I always try to apply this mentality into my work. Not to mention that stimulating my creativity is something I've always enjoyed, and something this line of work requires on a constant basis.
Of course, creative blocks are an issue occasionally, but it's still something I truly enjoy.