Hmmm...This is Challenging

There's a trend on Facebook right now called the "How Hard Did Aging Hit You?" challenge. You're to upload the first profile pic you ever posted next to your current one. And then...let the judgment commence: puffiness, gray hairs, Botox.

(Scratches head...) WTH kind of "challenge" is this?* A challenge means you accomplish something or take a dare: writing, sugar detox, ice buckets!

I challenge the idea that this "young me / current, more jowly and sun-damaged me" show-and-tell is a challenge. (Full disclosure: I gamely posted my photos...but soon after updated my post to clarify my age-positive sensibilities. I like all my laugh lines!)

A proper name would've been:

"The Fish For Compliments On How You Haven't Aged A Bit" Challenge
Or how about the "Pretend You Didn't Filter The Sh*t Out Of Your Current Profile Pic" Challenge

Here's a challenge: The "Challenge The Idea That Younger Is Better" Challenge. As I get older, I question the idea that youth is a virtue...that younger you has the upper hand on older you...that younger people have something you're missing (other than collagen).

My 2008 profile pic shows a me who has nothing on 2019 me (except waaaaay more eyeshadow). 2008 me was carefree. She lived in a Three's Company/Friends setup. Had only hazy dreams about the big "something more" she's to do with her life. No thoughts of being a midlife change coach, much less what it can become.

But 2019 me has new-found levels of self-acceptance that can only come from the startup- and health-related struggles of my 30s. This self-acceptance thing? It's the real deal.

I guess 2008 me still had in front of her the joy of watching The Good Wife for the first time. I wouldn't mind having that back. Otherwise, I wouldn't trade places with 2008 me for anything! (Not even a "less full" face...since the wonders of gua sha help with 2019 me's inflammation.)

All this said, join me in posting your before/ after profile pictures. Own your age-positivity. Plus, I didn't say they weren't fun to see. ;)