Meet 10-year-old Me

In my last post I talked about a little girl who was using her imagination to pretend she was a pilot. If you haven't read it, yet, I encourage you to read it here.

What adjectives did you use to describe what she might be like? In what ways were you like her when you were her age? 

Today I wanted to share a picture of myself and a little bit about who I was when I was 10 years old. I spent some time recently looking back to that time of my life. Mostly concerning who I was and what I spent my days doing...especially in the summer.  I encourage you to do something like this when you are able. 

I'll go first. :)

"Meet 10-year-old Amy. She likes treehouses, riding her bike around the neighborhood, and exploring the field next to her house. There are woods on the other side of the field, and she loves exploring them, too. She tries to get to the other side of them but can never quite get that far.

She likes to walk down an abandoned road next to her neighborhood (which is a private road, but she doesn’t know that, yet) and imagines what the people are like who live in that huge house with the pillars. She wonders what they look like and what they do all day.

She passes time many days during the summer by fishing in the neighborhood pond. Her friends don’t like baiting the hook or taking the fish off the hook, but Amy doesn’t see what the big deal is about doing that, so she does it for them. (Except if someone catches a catfish.)

She often takes injured birds home and does her best to help them heal. She keeps them on her bedroom dresser, which her mom doesn’t like, but she doesn’t know where else to keep them.

Amy loves others deeply. She stands up for, befriends, and advocates for the kids in her class who are teased or made fun of. She genuinely likes them and sees their value and cannot figure out why some others cannot see the same thing. 

She loves to read while using her vivid imagination to see what she is reading. She almost forgets that she is sitting on her back porch while reading, because feels like she is part of the story.

Amy goes to church every Sunday but isn’t really sure if God hears her talking to Him. She does it, anyway. She doesn’t know, yet, that she will one day have a relationship with Jesus that would surpass anything she ever knew was possible. It would be a long journey to get there, but so very worth it."

So that is what I remember about myself, when I was 10 years old. I encourage you to consider doing something like this (whether you have a picture, or not.) You may or may not have as many details as I do, and that's ok!  

• Do you remember how it felt to be a kid, when you were in a safe or fun place? 
• What did you like to do?
• Where was your safe or fun place? How did you use your imagination then?
• Can you look back and see strengths you had that you didn't recognize at the time?
  
• How are those same strengths showing up in your life now? 

Maybe you can see the strengths you had back then, and you can recognize just how much they have grown over the years. That's wonderful!

Maybe in looking back, you can see how something you loved or were passionate about when you were very young changed over the years due to painful circumstances, trauma, or even just not knowing how to steward that part of you.

This is something I have experienced, along with many of the women I talk to. I am going to be talking more about this next time. 

Just as I said last time, I encourage you to look at this journey of learning who God created you to be as a discovery, instead of trying really hard to change yourself. (Speaking as someone who tried really hard to change myself for a very long time.) It feels completely different, and you will be surprised at how much more effective it can actually be! 

Talk to you soon,

Amy Riordan
Free to Be Me Coaching