Welcome to Your 20s

They say that your 20s is the time in your life to be testing things out and going out of your comfort zone. Now that always sounds well and fine usually, but I'm starting to realize that parts of that are just a big sham. What does does it mean to go out of your comfort zone? For me, that definition connects with spending some time traveling with no set schedule or plan in mind. It means completely leaving my comfortable surroundings, and steeping myself in the uncomfortable. It means sleepless nights, chilly nights, all in the search of a greater meaning for myself.

That all comes from the romanticized portion of my mind. Then the logical part steps in and squashes the dream like an ant under a boot. I can't do any of those things right away. There's the slight issue of my job search that I need to be focused on. As much as I want to just drop everything, the potential ramifications are too great for me to even consider it.

So what's left for me to focus on during this period? How can I really test things out, discover myself, and go out of my comfort zone. Well that's the difficult thing. As much as I try to find individuality during this period, more and more it seems like circumstances want me to just fit into the standard flow of society. What do you do after you graduate college? You start working. What do you do after your finish working? You die.

Now contrary to the anger that spurred me when I first started writing this post, I don't actually plan to spend most of this time venting. I was left with the question of how do I find individuality and, in the most grand of terms, myself. Especially with how my options seemed mostly limited, I was left fairly frustrated. But I think I've started to figure out a bit more about how that's supposed to happen. Yes, at this moment my only plan should be to start working, and get into that grind. But that doesn't mean that's all there is to life. I can figure out some time to plan that trip if that's what my heart really desires, either before I start working, or when I can take a vacation. It's very much possible. Additionally, just because I start working doesn't mean that everything else that could possibly be done in life is gone. Because, that's the fun thing about work, which is completely different from college and from recruiting. When I'm done with work for the day or the week, I am actually completely done. There's no need to keep working in the evenings or the weekend. I can spend that time doing what I love. And I guess that is an important question to address. What is it that I love? Well I like writing blog posts, as well as working on my countless stories. Apart from that, I like dancing. I've really been trying to improve my dancing recently. I can attend dance lessons more and more frequently.

So regardless of the fact that many of us in our 20s might feel that we're shoehorned into typical roles, it's our job to take the time that we're not working to make the most of. Instead of just sitting there on your phone binging meaningless videos, take that time to read that damn book that you keep saying you'll eventually get to. Make that delicious recipe you saved for a day when you "would have the time". There's no such thing as having the time, at the end of the day you make the time for the activities that you want to do. 

So hopefully this blog post is ending on a much more positive thought than it started. Yes, like everyone else in this chaotic world, I am also human. I am prone to frustrations and anger just like everyone else. But after you clear through those emotions, it's all about looking at things more rationally. If you can do that, I promise things won't look so hopeless. Hang in there everyone.

​- A