There’s a new social media challenge swirling around. It’s called “how hard did aging hit you”. In case you haven’t heard, the premise is to post a picture of yourself from 2008 and one from 2018 to show how aging has affected your looks.
I could get behind “where were you 10 years ago” or “what were you doing 10 years ago”. But “how hard did aging hit you”?!? You have got to be kidding me.
When our teens are biting their nails as they watch “likes” or comments come in on Instagram, we shake our heads in dismay. What does it matter? Why would they care what other people have to say about them?
But here we are, adults, posting pictures 10 years apart to show how aging has changed our looks. Of course, we expect people to give us the obligatory “you haven’t changed at all” or “you look even better now”. But what if someone said “Wow, you’ve gained a lot of weight in 10 years” or “You aged pretty quickly”. We are setting ourselves up to have our appearance judged. Luckily, we have mostly learned to be kind to each other, but the premise is just odd to me. When our teens post pictures on Instagram fishing for compliments, we quickly point out that it isn’t healthy. They are setting themselves up for potentially harsh comments but hoping for external validation from their peers.
My daughters pointed out this hypocrisy to me. Let’s role model better social media trends, parents, because our teens are clearly watching our every move. I’m not trying to put a kabash on the fun challenge, but how about we label it “what were you doing 10 years ago”. That’s a lot more positive and a challenge that we would feel good about our teens doing as well.
With Heart,
Coach Sheri
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