This is 24
Turing 24 and Lessons From 23
24 is lots of things. 24 is trying to figure out what you want to do with your life. Watching all your friends get married. Getting asked when you’re getting married. Renting a house instead of an apartment and getting to have a garden. Getting drinks with your friends on the weekend and still getting carded. Everyone getting a dog at the same time and getting to see all the puppies. Debating on looking for your next job or seeing where this one takes you.
Turing 24 itself is rather uneventful. After 21, there aren’t many birthdays that hold much significance, besides the dreaded 30. I’ve always thought that birthdays have too much pressure around them to be perfect. You feel like you have to take full advance of the day since you won’t see it again for 364 days.
In college, celebrating birthdays was easy. An excuse to go out, get dressed up and sometimes get a nice meal you end up having to charge. Everyone was available unless your birthday falls around finals (my deepest apologies if so) and everyone you loved was in one spot.
Adult birthdays as it turns out are much harder. But last year, I felt like I finally cracked the code. A day to yourself. I took the day off work, went to Northpark, shopped with my birthday money and got lunch by myself. The day was so simple, but I did what I wanted and spent time away from work to destress. After not taking off this year, I decided I will never work another birthday, as long as I can help it.
Looking back on year 23, it was a year for a lot of change and a lot of growth. The first full year working and getting used to being completely on my own. How to act, save money and find balance. It also brought a new city, new home and new job. The year was divided almost exactly in half between Texas and Alabama. Half spent wishing I could move back home, half spent adjusting to the move.
From this experience the past year I learned you don’t know what your feelings towards something in the future will be. No matter how much you think you know how you’ll feel, you don’t know until the time comes. I thought that once I moved home I would instantly be happier and feel settled.
But those feelings took time to come and I had to give myself lots of grace. Feeling settled is a slow process . After moving I realized that I actually did feel settled in Dallas, even while still wanting to move. And I now had to let that feeling come naturally again, slowly but surely.
Give yourself time. Everything feels so permanent but you can make changes. 24 might sound old but it’s really not, we have our whole lives ahead of us!
Here’s to year 24!