Still dependent on the writing prompts:
If you woke up ten years younger tomorrow, what would be the first thing you would do?
So this can be read a couple of different ways. I guess I’m thinking about waking up tomorrow and it’s ten years ago. The alternate interpretation, a sort of Big in reverse, would be way too weird. Herself would be scared shitless to wake up next to the 20-year-old me, and she’d die laughing at my hair. My boss would want a scientific explanation for what happened. At least I wouldn’t have to steal any clothes and stay in an by-the-hour motel.
It’s actually a disturbing coincidence, because 10 years ago, I was down in Los Angeles, working a contract job. It was my first time away from home on my own. That was a definite learning experience for me; yes, that’s code for “it didn’t turn out how I thought.” That adventure gave me some confidence in my grown-up skills, my abilities to handle the unexpected. Of course, that ability mostly consists of the same thing they teach little kids in Finding Nemo: “just keep swimming.”
These last ten years have been… well, what most people’s twenties are: learning how to been an independent adult. I can pay my own rent, I still have use of all my body parts, and I don’t have a serious criminal record; so I guess I was pretty successful in learning those lessons. I developed a reasonably useful professional skill set and had more of those learning experiences. I’ve met some wonderful people and been some fun places. I fell in love.
I’ve always said that I don’t regret the choices I’ve made over the years; I wouldn’t be who I am today without everything that came before it. All of the angst I have lately shows I no longer value this version of me as much as I used to, though.
Would I trade what I have now for the promise of something different? I’m glad I don’t have to decide because even with ten extra years under my belt, I still don’t have the tools to choose and believe I chose wisely. I do wish I could tell myself to put a few bucks into some well-placed stocks and to not make that illegal turn, though.