Quarter Century Old

It happened. I tried to avoid it but I couldn't. I turned 25 on Monday, October 7th. The fact of the matter is, I don't feel different at all. It went by just like any other birthday. But when I actually sit and think about the fact that I've been on this Earth for 25 years now, it does freak me out a little. A friend of mine texted me the other day saying that we are 15 years away from being 40. 15 YEARS AWAY FROM BEING 40!!! I almost lashed out at him because the thought of it made me angry. WHY, GOD, WHY?? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME????

This makes me realize how obsessed I am with age and time. This constant fear and obsession of wanting to be younger, wanting more time on this planet. As if with each breath, with each day, with each year, I become less of a person.

The truth is that there is really no point of constantly being fixated with how old I am or how old I will be in however many years. It's actually quite detrimental to think this way. We have expectations of where we should be, how we should behave, and what we should do, all dependent on how old we are. Although some of it does make some sense (for example, having a baby at 13 is probably not such a good idea), we shouldn't allowe these societal expectations dictate the way we live our lives. By doing this, we are trapping ourselves and it ironically makes the aging process even more depressing.

Of course, it's going to be hard to completely break free of the societal pressures, but I'm going to try my best. I'm going to try my best not to make excuses for not doing things I want to do, just because of how old I am. There may be many reasons why I might not do something I want to do, but I will not allow AGE to be the sole reason. There are still SO many things I want to do, and I hope that even at the age of 60 or 70, that will still be the case.

After all, life's too short.

I Need Inspiration

There's something about me that keeps yearning for more. I don't know exactly what it is but I feel like there's so much more to life than just working at a mediocre job just to pay the bills and go on vacation a couple of times a year. Today, I was browsing on Thought Catalog again, and I came across this quote from an article:

“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape.” – Seth Godin

This is exactly what I'm looking for. I need to figure out how to create a life where I don't constantly look for ways to escape it. Where I don't constantly feel like I need a vacation.

After every vacation, it's like the only thing I look forward to is the next vacation. All I do throughout the work week is to wait desperately for the weekend. Wouldn't it be nice to have a life where I wasn't constantly looking forward to things, but where I was satisfied with life in general? A job or a career where I felt inspired every day to go into work? A life where I genuinely feel like I am learning something new every day and where every day is a new adventure?

I keep telling myself that I should just stop complaining and just accept life for what it is. But that little voice inside my head keeps telling me that there is more that I'm looking for. And that little voice keeps saying that I won't be able to find it here, where I am at now.

So should I move somewhere? If so, where?? Should I be saving up money first and look for a job first, before moving? Or should I do the spontaneous thing and just pack up a suitcase and go?

My mind is full of so many thoughts... and I don't know how to organize them. I really need inspiration to figure out what I want in life. Am I supposed to have things figured out by now? SOMEONE ANSWER ME!!

25 Reminders for the 25-Year-Old-Me

I'm turning 25 in a little over a month and I'm slightly freaking out. At the same time, I've been freaking out basically every year for the past 7-ish years of my life only to come to the realization that it's really not that big of a deal. Maybe this year is even more terrifying because I'm turning a quarter century old. I can't even say that I'm having a "quarter life crisis" anymore, unless I plan to live to 100 (and with my history of alcohol consumption, the chances of that happening are slim).

I basically had a heart attack when I was filling out an online form a couple of weeks ago, and under "Age Group", the choices were "18-24" or "25-34". I will now soon move up an age group. I will no longer belong in the cool, trendy, youthful demographic of 18-24. Now I will be paired with the 30-somethings and marketing companies will now try to sell me fancy kitchenware and anti-wrinkle night creams.

Maybe it's the fact that I'm terrified of turning 25 or the fact that I'm spending way too much time in front of the computer, but I constantly find myself reading random lists about being 25. So here is my own contribution to these lists. This is going to be my 25 Reminders for the 25-Year-Old Me.

1. Never underestimate the value of sleep. Sure, at 18, you may have pulled a few all nighters. Now, if you don't sleep, you know you'll look and feel like death. Get your 8 hours in.

2. Never stop travelling. Sure, you've already done quite a bit of travelling, but there's so much of the world you still haven't seen yet. If there's one luxury in the world that's worth spending money for, it's this. Keep exploring.

3. Stop telling yourself that you're "too old". Pretty soon, you really will be too old. So be adventurous and be daring; just don't be stupid.

4. Learn to let your guard down. Don't be afraid to let new people into your life. It's going to get harder and harder to meet new people so be more open-minded.

5. Know your limit (In this case, your alcohol limit, although this could be applied to many situations). It was cool at 18 to down ten tequila shots and puke your guts out an hour later. Now every body-aching hangover is a reminder that it's just not fun anymore (if it ever was fun).

6. Don't Facebook status too much personal shit. It's embarrassing, no one cares, and it'll come back to haunt you later.

7. Stop wasting your money on useless crap. Or on overpriced crap. It may have been cool in high school to buy brand named jeans for $300 but you should probably pay your bills and no pair of jeans are that good in quality.

8. Learn to get rid of your shit. That shirt you bought 5 years ago, only wore once but kept telling yourself that you may need it one day? Get rid of it.

9. Stop comparing yourself to all your seemingly successful friends who are "also 25 but is married and making so much more money than me". So what?

10. There's nothing wrong with being at a mediocre job that you don't like. I know you think you could be doing so much more with your life and that you didn't get a degree to do what you're doing now. But this is all part of life and it's something that most people go through. Just remember that you're not stuck there forever and be thankful that you even have a job in this shit economy.

11. Never stop learning.

12. Let go of the people who have let go of you. Sometimes there's no sense in wasting your time trying to mend things with people who stopped caring a long time ago. Just let it go, move on, and spend your precious time with people who also want to spend their precious time with you.

13. Have a savings account. And give it some lovin'.

14. Stop living in the past. What's done is done and there's really nothing you can do about it now. Coulda Woulda Shoulda.

15. Spend more time with your parents. Now that you're 25, they're the coolest people you know.

16. Don't freak out because you don't have it all "figured out". Trust me, no one does and no one ever will.

17. Clean your damn room. You're not a teenager anymore.

18. Be there for your friends when they need you. Sure, we're all busy. But think about the times when your friends were there for you when you needed them most.

19. Have a responsible number of beers on a patio whenever possible.

20. It's okay to stay home on a weekend and go to bed early. Remember, It's not that you can't go out, it's that you are choosing not to.

21. Don't stop being weird. Anything worse than being old is being boring.

22. Keep exercising. Your metabolism only gets slower.

23. Spend more money on life experiences rather than material goods.

24. Don't be afraid to do things that you want to do in fear of being judged. People will judge you regardless.

25. Stop freaking out. You're only 25.