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Many of us come from humble beginnings. We make something of ourselves with hard work and a bit of luck and have every right to be proud of our success. But it's important to remember where we came from. It keeps us down to earth and doesn't let us take anything for granted.
A recent trend online is dedicated to just that. It has people making "How It Started vs. How It's Going" posts, sharing photos before and after they succeeded. Some are revealing their own roots, some are showing where their role models began their journeys, but all of these posts are 100% wholesome and inspiring.
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It's easy to feel like crap in 2020. The deadly pandemic, police brutality, civil rights protests, conspiracy theories, political crises... In most parts of the world — especially, the United States — it seems as though every 10 minutes yields another dire post on Reddit or Instagram.
Scary news puts our brains on high alert. As Rebecca Renner wrote in a wonderful piece for National Geographic, it was an advantage to our early ancestors, guarding them from predators and natural disasters, but now it leaves us “doomscrolling” through endless social media feeds to stay abreast of the latest threats.
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Our hearts race, and our minds keep looking for the next big catastrophe. We want to feel prepared, so we become addicted to the updates, coming back for more until the world seems far worse than before.
In Western culture, people usually tend to interpret present events negatively and often prefer the past, according to the research of Carey Morewedge, a professor of marketing at Boston University. That is because our autobiographical memories are highly programmed toward positivity -- when we think about the past, we mostly remember positive experiences. This is called "rosy retrospection," or "nostalgia bias."
Even historians fall victim to this trap as well. It might lead to glittering terms like the "Gilded Age," says Erika Harlitz-Kern, a historian at Florida International University in Miami. In American history, for example, the Gilded Age refers to the period between 1870 and 1900, when the Industrial Revolution resulted in huge advancements in technology, culture, and the arts.
"But this time period was also a time of social inequality, great poverty, and the continued genocide and displacement of Native Americans," Harlitz-Kern pointed out. Nonetheless, the term Gilded Age refers to the period in an obviously positive light.
It looks like we will always be facing one issue or another. Or a few really big ones at once. So we really need to learn how to deal with them and not let them crush us. To quote Ernest Hemingway, "Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated."
If making posts online in honor of even the slightest achievements gets us closer to persevering, let's do it.
#8
Pseudo Puppy 4 years ago
this is Von8... creator of VCN Clothing. (Vision. Create Network Clothing) https://vcnclothing.com/
#13
#14
Jamie S. Martindale 4 years ago
First there were two of us, and now due to secret cloning technology, there's an even dozen!
#15
LittleMissLotus 4 years ago
I personally think that Beyonce's music is ok, my problem is just how overhyped it is
#16
Pseudo Puppy 4 years ago
If my google search is right - these guys are all from Government Housing in the UK (the british equivalent of the ghetto, in the US), and had never acted before they got their roles in The Top Boy (Netflix show, in its 4th season). One of them is named Hope Ikpoku
#19
Heike 4 years ago
Was my first thought too. But looks more like he was promoted.
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shyanna banana 4 years ago
the smoke from the fires have effected his eyes
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David Buchanan 4 years ago (edited)
I think he was a cadet on the left. I'm pretty certain he's still a firefighter. The leather strap across is chest is a radio sling that firefighters wear, and his badge has a star of life on it. Not a cop, but still, support the good cops out there.
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#20
Pseudo Puppy 4 years ago
in between: totally changed her style, her styling, and her target audience.
#23
lailyfnoor 4 years ago
the picture looks like a father gives a support to his son on basketball game
#25
Yvonne Blau 4 years ago
Who and what am I looking at? Some of these entries need some more info, for the lazy pandas that don't want to open another tab to google...
#26
Lilly Rose Poppy 4 years ago
I love seeing all the women’s basketball things on this list. It gives me hope for future girls who want to play basketball professionally
#27
KoalaOfDragons 4 years ago
I'm sorry but that stage looks like a toilet with someone's balls hanging
#29
Kayla J 4 years ago
I can explain this one!!! The Rangers sent out a letter a few years ago admitting to the fans they were going to go into a rebuild mode. They won the draft lottery this year and chose Alexis Lafrenière. One of those I get it but a bit meh compared to some of the others imo.
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What do you think ?
Pseudo Puppy 4 years ago
Would be great to have context for these, because a lot of these are very genre-specific, and unless you have some idea of who these people are, there's little, if any real understanding to what the progress actually is.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Some names and context would be great. I have no clue who 90% of these people are.
blugeagua 4 years ago
The only disturbing thing was the EXTREMELY random bashing against women in sports in one of the posts for absolutely no reason at all. Once again just showing that women apparently can’t do anything without being hated on by certain men. Like they don’t like the idea that we’re human beings as well.
Thenatural 4 years ago
Potato...are you saying that men are not better than women at certain sports and vice versa?? Please....enlighten me..
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Fixin'Ta 4 years ago
Would it be too much to ask to have descriptions on each of these? Some are fairly obvious (Beyonce, etc.), but the sports ones and many others were just young people and then older people, no context at all for this non-sporty person. And some of the others could have benefitted from some backstory.
D. Pitbull 4 years ago
This are... cute... some are truly amazing - many of the "famous" ones though.. like Don John mentions - yeeeah... so you mean they had a megaton of support from family, family friends, etc... hugely lucky breaks, enough money to go through whatever training/exposure was needed... aand they basically are doing well because they didn't manage to 100% screw it up? Okay... yes, wow... ?
MrTree1779 4 years ago
Each (if not all) of these people: 1. Was at the right place, at the right time, to get noticed by the right person. 2. Knew someone who helped them early on. 3. Never suffered a setback which completely derailed them. --- Now list the 300,000 people who wanted to achieve their goal, but failed due to circumstances outside their control...
MrTree1779 4 years ago
Hard work is important. But luck is equally important. Otherwise, "Janitors would be millionaires."
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Matthew Smith 4 years ago
I'm shocked the Kardashians were not included, that would of been a laugh!!
Karly Codr 4 years ago
Names would be great... Also, where's Taylor Swift? She deserves to be on here
Si 4 years ago
American sports aren’t followed outside America. Nobody else knows who these people are.
blugeagua 4 years ago
Believe it or not, but plenty of countries outside the U.S. like basketball.
Load More Replies... Joley Hidaka 4 years ago
I agree with everyone else - had no clue who most of them were except the ones with obvious labels or names.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
I would put one of my early alien drawings here, and compare it to one of the later ones, but i can't be bothered and will instead plug my Spore account, so you can go see for yourself. CaptainAudan3.
Pseudo Puppy 4 years ago
Would be great to have context for these, because a lot of these are very genre-specific, and unless you have some idea of who these people are, there's little, if any real understanding to what the progress actually is.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Some names and context would be great. I have no clue who 90% of these people are.
blugeagua 4 years ago
The only disturbing thing was the EXTREMELY random bashing against women in sports in one of the posts for absolutely no reason at all. Once again just showing that women apparently can’t do anything without being hated on by certain men. Like they don’t like the idea that we’re human beings as well.
Thenatural 4 years ago
Potato...are you saying that men are not better than women at certain sports and vice versa?? Please....enlighten me..
Load More Replies... Fixin'Ta 4 years ago
Would it be too much to ask to have descriptions on each of these? Some are fairly obvious (Beyonce, etc.), but the sports ones and many others were just young people and then older people, no context at all for this non-sporty person. And some of the others could have benefitted from some backstory.
D. Pitbull 4 years ago
This are... cute... some are truly amazing - many of the "famous" ones though.. like Don John mentions - yeeeah... so you mean they had a megaton of support from family, family friends, etc... hugely lucky breaks, enough money to go through whatever training/exposure was needed... aand they basically are doing well because they didn't manage to 100% screw it up? Okay... yes, wow... ?
MrTree1779 4 years ago
Each (if not all) of these people: 1. Was at the right place, at the right time, to get noticed by the right person. 2. Knew someone who helped them early on. 3. Never suffered a setback which completely derailed them. --- Now list the 300,000 people who wanted to achieve their goal, but failed due to circumstances outside their control...
MrTree1779 4 years ago
Hard work is important. But luck is equally important. Otherwise, "Janitors would be millionaires."
Load More Replies... Matthew Smith 4 years ago
I'm shocked the Kardashians were not included, that would of been a laugh!!
Karly Codr 4 years ago
Names would be great... Also, where's Taylor Swift? She deserves to be on here
Si 4 years ago
American sports aren’t followed outside America. Nobody else knows who these people are.
blugeagua 4 years ago
Believe it or not, but plenty of countries outside the U.S. like basketball.
Load More Replies... Joley Hidaka 4 years ago
I agree with everyone else - had no clue who most of them were except the ones with obvious labels or names.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
I would put one of my early alien drawings here, and compare it to one of the later ones, but i can't be bothered and will instead plug my Spore account, so you can go see for yourself. CaptainAudan3.
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