When you're growing up, everyone is in a race to turn 16, 18, 21, but what happens once you hit 22? You feel like all of a sudden you’re running out of time. You watch everyone around you graduate, get engaged, travel the world, have babies, get fancy jobs and all of a sudden you realize, you're not a little kid anymore. Things are changing and instead of hoping and waiting and wishing you were grown up, you are.
All of a sudden you have bills, and it seems like you have nothing to look forward to. What happens if you don’t know what you want to do? What happens when all of your friends are moving on to bigger things and you’re stuck in this confusing in between world? People often say, "there are no fun birthdays after 21.” That is not true.
Just because other people know what they are doing doesn’t mean you have to. This is the time in your life where you’re supposed to experiment and travel. You’re not supposed to know what you want because this is the opportunity you have to find yourself. To get to know the parts of yourself that you're not familiar with or even comfortable with.
So when you're feeling lost and confused, out of touch with yourself or the people who surround you, take a minute to think and realize you’ve got time. You have plenty of time. There is no rush. You have the rest of your life to be beautiful, successful and wild. Don’t ever stop pushing yourself to do the things you’ve always wanted and never base your progress off of other people. Some people were born to fly through school with all A’s and get a job fresh out of college, and some were born to question it and find their own answers. Find their own happiness in other things. Either way, there is no wrong way to find yourself. You just have to be willing to stray off on your own path.
Make a list. Check things off. The list doesn’t ever have to end. You have the chance to create whatever future you want. You don’t have to do things just because someone told you it was the right thing to do. You can always go back and get another degree, you can always find ways to better yourself, but at this age you don’t have to. There is no time limit. So screw up, fix it and start over. Go to the places you see in magazines. Save up for months just to blow all your money on stupid stuff you don’t need. Surround yourself with people that make you happy and let go of the ones that don’t. Hold on to everything you love and take care of the things you cannot live without. Your future is completely up to you, but make the best of it. You are not running out of time. Age is just a number.
