Twenty. The big 20.
You’re now officially considered an adult because you’re no longer a “teen.”
In childhood, you may have thought of where you’ll be when you turn 20. You may have thought that you were now a grown-up tackling grown-up things.
But then, on the day after your birthday, you notice that adulting is muddier than you’ve ever thought. You may still live at home with your parents, not have a driver’s license, or be looking for a job.
You may have thought back to what your childhood self had envisioned and noticed the mismatch.
But fear not: you should never feel bad about yourself because of it.
Throughout your teen years, you often go through highs and lows. You want more freedom from your parents to see who you are as an individual. Indeed, adolescence is when we challenge others and test their boundaries.
And when you turn 20, you may realize that now you have the time to make your own choices.
This can seem extremely exciting at first because now you can choose who to hang out with and choose to come home after 9:00 pm. You can choose where and when to work, who to meet, and what to prioritize. You finally got the freedom you were seeking for so long.
But along with the freedom comes multiple hardships as well.
You’ll have to learn how to file taxes on your own, identify who to trust, and advocate for yourself in difficult situations. If you’ve lived a sheltered childhood, many of these tasks won’t come easy, as you’ll have to unlearn multiple habits. And throughout the years, you’ll realize how glamorized adult life is.
We all wait for our twenties because the media tells us that it’s seemingly the best time in our lives. We can make our own decisions, have fewer responsibilities, and travel the world whenever we want.
It may seem like this at first, but being in your twenties is a time filled with confusion. Your peers will constantly question who they are, and you’ll notice that the same thing will happen to you too. You’ll ask yourself how far you are in life and continue to ask yourself if you’ve made the proper decision or not.
There will be moments when you’ll hit rock bottom — where it seems like it’s bad outcome after another and no way to dig yourself out of the tunnel.
But along with that, there will be moments of triumph and wins as well.
You may find the most amazing friends in the world, obtain the most amazing job, and graduate from a postsecondary institution with good memories.
Even if it feels like a grim road, you’re still young, and you have more than a decade to discover who you are. It’s never too late to make a new decision or start a new path. So, throughout your 20s, it’s important to be courageous and take your most courageous leaps.
So with that, have a great and happy 20th birthday.
Featured image via Yasmine qasem on Pexels
