A lot of people say that your 20s are the best years of your life. They tell you to go out and enjoy your youth! And all of that sounds like great advice, until if you are like me and tons of other 20 somethings I know, you wake up one day in a cold sweat and ask yourself, "holy crap, what am I doing with my life!?"
I turned 21 about two weeks ago. While I know that I am not old, I am also starting to realize that I am not so young anymore either. I've always followed the 'right' path, or the path toward success as laid out by our white middle class parents; I finished high school, went to college, and I'm now about to begin my last year of my undergraduate career. And I'm terrified.
I'm not just terrified about my career or about what comes after college. I'm actually just terrified of the future and getting older in general. And I know I'm not the only one. What comes next for me? Where is the magical timeline I'm supposed to be following so that the next 9 years of my life lead to my fairy tale life? And while realistically I know there is no fairy tale life, I can not help but think that I will need to make some crucial decisions in the coming years that are either going to lead to my contentment or regret.
I am truly freaked out that people around my age are starting to get married, have babies (not necessarily in that order), and have real jobs. Some have even started to get divorced. And in this age of facebook and people like me sharing their ridiculous thoughts in blogs, we are invaded with too much information about our fellow 20 somethings' personal lives! Each time I log into facebook, another high school classmate is married, engaged, or pregnant, and they are shamelessly sharing it all with the world. Well, I'm here to say enough is enough, people!
While we aren't so young anymore, we are not old, and we don't have to settle! The advice to go out and paint the town in your 20s might not be the best, but I think we can all learn a valuable lesson from it; don't rush your life, enjoy it.
So I leave you with that thought. I hope all my fellow 20 somethings will raise a glass with me (legally as of two weeks ago!) to enjoying our lives and being terrified of the future.
