My birthday just passed, I'm more than halfway through my 20's now and I can honestly say that this has been an eye-opening experience. Looking back on my younger years, I can't believe I was in such a rush to be older. My parents always warned my siblings and I to "enjoy our youth while we can" because the years fly by after your 20's... they were right.
You live your younger years with aspirations and dreams of what you will be when you get older. We're conditioned to figure these things out early in life. A doctor? A lawyer? Nurse? Musician? The list is endless when you're young and we're told we can be whatever we want to be. I'm not going to sit here and say that I knew early on what I wanted to be when I got older. All I know is that I've always been into the arts and knew that was something I wanted to stick with. My parents always supported that too. If I tried out for talent shows or poetry contests, my parents were there. That is one thing I can say about them: no matter what my siblings and I wanted to do, they supported us. I knew early on I loved to sing, they encouraged me to apply to a performing arts school. My sister and brother loved to draw; they were bought art supplies. My parents noticed how heavy into music we were, they built a studio in our basement: drum sets, guitars, a piano, a mic and soundproof it too... the support was always there.
We were never forced into roles or occupations that appealed to our parents, which made the transition into adulthood a little easier. My dad's favorite line is "We just want you all to be better than us." So, no matter what we decided to do in life, as long as we were doing better than they were at our age, they were happy.
There is so much pressure on young people to have your entire life figured out by the time you get to college, which is why we're encouraged to go to college in the first place. We're told to pick a major and stick with it for all four years. Get a job (a well-paying job), build credit, move out, and start families. All of this is ingrained in us at 18, which I feel creates unnecessary pressure. How is anyone supposed to know their whole life plan at 18?
I knew going into college what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, an entertainment lawyer. I thought I was going to graduate undergrad and go straight to law school somewhere in New York. I just knew I was going to be living my life in New York as a law student/makeup artist. God laughed and told me to relax. Yes, those are still the plans, but that wasn't my path at the time. It took me a few years to accept this realization, but once I did, I started to realize how aligned I was to my path.
"Delayed, not denied." I feel like that's where we go wrong. We plan our whole lives out at such an early age, that the moment we are thrown off course, we're deterred from our goals. We feel defeated, like a failure. There's so much pressure to have certain accomplishments by a certain age, and if you don't, you're a failure. It doesn't help that we're in this age of technology, with access to so many people's lives, and everyone seems to have it all figured out. I'm here to say that EYE don't. I can't speak for everyone else, but EYE do not have it all figured out... no matter how it looks on the outside. We also live in a world of instant gratification. We put in so much work and expect results overnight. It happens for some, but for others it doesn't.
It's ok to not have a clue as to what your purpose is in life. I didn't discover my purpose until last year and I'm still trying to decide if that's what I'm meant to do. Instead of focusing on where I could have been, or what I don't have, I try to live in the now and focus on all that I do have now. I'm not where I was 2 years ago. I don't have the same mindset, my dreams and goals expanded. I accomplished so much. That's all a part of life. It's ok to try new things, explore all of your options, find out what you like and don't like; what works for you... it's ok.
I feel like your 20's are meant to explore. To figure yourself out... to live. The dreams you had at 18 might not be the same dreams you have at 21, at 25. You might have to start over a couple of times before you get it right and it's ok. So, if you're reading this and you feel lost, just know that it's ok. You're ok. It's definitely all a part of the "growing up" process. You'll get to where you're destined to be in due time.
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