My friend told me this morning that she and her husband had been talking about how much they have changed and grown in the past ten years. She asked, "Do you think you're a better person now than you were ten years ago?"
I could hardly even think of where I was or what I was doing ten years ago, but now I can't stop thinking about it.
Ten Years Ago:
Maddie was almost 3
Eloise was 6 months old
We lived in an apartment in Orem, UT
Rob was going to law school at BYU
I was serving in a RS presidency and Rob was the EQ secretary
We spent a lot of time with family--siblings at BYU and weekend trips to SLC and Idaho Falls
We were less than a year away from moving to Indiana and starting graduate school, though of course we didn't know that at the time. It seems like my life is divided into two parts from that year, because moving away from everything familiar forced me to really and truly be an adult.
I don't know if it's good or depressing to realize I'm doing the same mom-type things with my life that I did then. I cook, clean, read, sew, play with the kids, do laundry, work on my church calling. (It seemed like a lot of work at the time, but it sure seems easy now to clean that tiny apartment!)
But AM I A BETTER PERSON? I'd definitely say I'm stronger, both physically and emotionally. I feel like a "real mom"--even then I sometimes felt like I was playing house. I love my husband more. I've learned lots of new skills. I feel like I'm a more thoughtful person, but it's hard to know. I wouldn't go back; that's for sure. I don't have too many regrets; that's good. There's an awful lot I can't remember; is that bad?
So now I will pass the question on to you. It is kind of fun to think about and kind of uncomfortable too, because it really seems to me that I should have made more measurable progress as a human being in 10 years....
Are you a better person than you were 10 years ago?
Shuffling
5 years ago
8 comments:
Ten years ago, I was in high school. So... I've hit tons of major milestones since then. High school graduate, College Graduate, a mission, getting married, getting a master's degree,having two kids, and moving a billion times. It is interesting to think of an isolated ten year period as well (what would be on your list if you started your ten years since high school rather than starting in 2000)
I hope I'm better than I was 10 years ago, and I think I've gained a lot of life changing perspective along the way. I wonder what it will be like to look back in another ten years though, because my life doesn't seem to have as many of the huge milestones ahead (unless I have a baby every year for the next ten years. LOL)
You're not a better or a worse person than you were ten years ago. You are the same person. You are the same person you have been for eternity.
Today you are more Christlike because you have given more of yourself for the joy of others and the building of His kingdom.
Today, you have created new children, new experiences, and new covenants with the Lord.
Today you are more grateful for your body because you more fully appreciate that vanity is fleeting. You are more grateful for your health because you have seen that no other asset we have is more debilitating when taken away. You are more grateful for agency because you realize that the only decisions you can make are for yourself.
Today you are more grateful for your loved ones (past and present) because, though you are not living close to them during this life, you have the promise of living close to them through the eternities.
Today you are more pure before the Lord because you recognize to a greater degree your own nothingness before Him.
Flori, you are more like Christ today because you are not concerned with being "better" than anyone...not even yourself of yesterday.
Christ was not a better person after saving us. He was the same person he has always been. He was a good person.
And that is good enough.
10 years ago, we had just moved to Indiana -- the beginning of our Bloomington days. I was pregnant with Jane. I don't know what to call those Bloomington days. They are so dear to me now in my memory . . . with our winding Burberry Lane and all the friends that lived up and down that street, cuddled into narrow townhomes, like we were, cozy in spite of the chill of Indiana ice and graduate school poverty. I look back and remember the neighborhood with red and orange leaves or exploding with blossoms. The wintry dead branches are all erased. I loved that time! We grew so much. The church callings, demanding school schedules, and new parenting were a refiner's fire. And the world I live in now is so drastically different with no fall colors and eternal summer. I love my NOW but I am so grateful for that time 10 years ago. It is so much a part of who I am, who Dan and I are. I'm more than I was 10 years ago. But I fear I still have the same list of things I want to change about myself. Looks like it's time to get to work on those things!
wow--good question. I was just a baby 10 years ago--seems like anyway :) I was a newlywed living in little house and plugging away at BYU with my cute hubby. I do think I have changed for the better simply because I have become a mother since then (3 times over) and that role has shaped me a ton--learning about sacrifice, charity, service, pure love and true happiness--things that motherhood has taught me volumes about. But I know what you mean in looking back at times when you already did all of that--I wonder how much I have changed in the 5+ years I have been a mom...hopefully some for the good right? :)
Who is MY with the comment? I wish I knew...please step forward.
10 years ago like Flori and Emily, Boomington and children were in my near future and I loved those years there.
I think I was more than 10 years younger though. I think back on the things I've been through over that time and even just this past year and it's a wonder my hair isn't completely gray (just noticably so). Those things have taught me a lot though and I am a much more compassionate person than I'd been. I've learned a TON of practical knowledge in that time and a TON of not-so-practical knowledge that is just fun to know.
I still struggle with the same issues I did then too, but as my family has grown I can hardly claim to have the same challenges because the circumstances are so different. I still struggle with being on time, but it used to be just me and John and now there are six of us to get out the door, so I've made progress. Still the same amount of time late BUT I can now get out the door with our family of 6 people rather than two so there has been noticable progress, even though I am still late.
Overall I wouldn't go back either, but there are elements of that time I wish I could have kept with me most notably, my mother.
Dear Flori
This is a challenging question for us that have many more years to wade through and remember. Ten years ago Megan was in high school. Amy was newly married. Susan was in junior high and driving us crazy with group get togethers with friends. Jon and Melinda were in school in Logan. We were only at 2 grandchildren. And we had only been in our home on Canterbury for a year. Many things have changed but the best changes have been the additions to our family. People we never knew were to belong to our family our now ours for eternity. What a blessing 10 years make. Love your Wednesdays. I am your biggest fan. Love Mom
Ten years ago I was in Guara I, a suburb of Brasilia, getting ready to come home and start life.
Since then, I've lived in four cities, earned three university degrees (plus an honorary one from the school of hard knocks), had three children (and a shih-tzu), and started my own business.
I'm not sure if I'm a better person or not, but I'm sure living a better, richer life.
My life right now is the life I used to dream about in high school and college...the life I couldn't wait to live. Being married to a beautiful woman, living in a beautiful place, having beautiful children (that aren't old enough to give us grief yet) is truly heavenly.
Now, if only we could get out from under this rock of student debt. Unfortunately, it may be with us for much longer than the next ten years :-(
Getting old rules.
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