At the age of twenty-seven years, seven months and twenty-two days old, I have come to accept that I am no longer in the mid-twenties age bracket and probably haven't been, in fact, for the past seven months and twenty-two days. I am officially in my late twenties and thirty doesn't seem all that far away, particularly if time continues to hurtle past at the alarming speed it has done so far this year. Getting older is still seen as something we should dread and I'll admit I'm the first to wince when I tell anyone my age, as if it's a bad thing. But actually, my only experiences of getting older have been good ones; I'm much happier now than I ever was in my early twenties and I'm only excited for the future, despite the fact that future Amy will be even older. Here's why my late twenties is my favourite stage of life so far:
I'm more sure of myself. When I think about the Amy of five years ago, I don't think of an adult. I found my early twenties a very odd transitioning stage where I didn't feel like a child anymore, but I was still nervous and unsure of myself around adults because I didn't feel like one of those either. When I first entered a full-time working environment I was shy, awkward and actually not very good at holding any sort of conversation with people I didn't know. I'm definitely still awkward and shy, but I'm sure of myself and confident both in my work and in making conversation with adults because newsflash, I am one.
I have more direction. I think it's rare that anyone knows what they want to do with their life at such an early age and it's very disorienting to leave university and essentially have to get on with it, all the while fending off questions about what you're going to do next. I didn't have a clue what to do with my life, where I wanted to end up or have a five year plan. For me, things sort of fell into place and I've ended up settling where I didn't think I would, with a job that I didn't think I wanted (disclaimer: I now want it very much). Because I'm more settled, I have more of an idea about where I want my life to go in the next few years, how I want to progress in my career and how I'm going to go about achieving those things.
I'm over pretending to be anything I'm not. As a girl in her early twenties I was considered a bit weird if I didn't want to go out with my friends and get horrendously drunk somewhere we couldn't even hear each other speak. Now I'm a bit older, it's generally more accepted and I feel I can be honest when I don't want to do something rather than either making up a lame excuse or just going along with the crowd and doing it anyway. If someone can't accept me as I am, they're not a friend worth having.
I don't care about what other people think (as much). I can't pretend I don't completely care what people think, I'm actually very much a people pleaser. However, I certainly care much much less, particularly when it comes to my appearance and what people think of the way I dress. My confidence has grown so much in the past few years, which has helped me care much less about other people's opinions of me.
I'm excited for the future. It's not that I wasn't excited for the future when I was younger, it's that I had no idea what it would hold and no idea whether I'd be happy about it or not. Now, I'm not about to tell you I've become a psychic, but I'm excited for things to come that I'm guessing may happen and even if the shit hits the fan I know I have people around me who'll keep my spirits up and I'm happy that I have those people in my life.
What's been your favourite stage in life so far?
Amy x
I don't care about what other people think (as much). I can't pretend I don't completely care what people think, I'm actually very much a people pleaser. However, I certainly care much much less, particularly when it comes to my appearance and what people think of the way I dress. My confidence has grown so much in the past few years, which has helped me care much less about other people's opinions of me.
I'm excited for the future. It's not that I wasn't excited for the future when I was younger, it's that I had no idea what it would hold and no idea whether I'd be happy about it or not. Now, I'm not about to tell you I've become a psychic, but I'm excited for things to come that I'm guessing may happen and even if the shit hits the fan I know I have people around me who'll keep my spirits up and I'm happy that I have those people in my life.
What's been your favourite stage in life so far?
Amy x
Photos: Emma
I'm coming up to 25 and so this post has come at a great time haha - roll on the late-twenties! I can definitely vouch for being over pretending something I'm not, as time goes on it I think we all realise how pointless that one is haha. Very happy to hear you're excited for the future by the way, Amy! Another thing I can relate to ;)
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous week!
aglassofice.com x
I think 25 and onwards was just so much better for me personally! I hope it's the same for you :) xx
DeleteI totally agree that as you get older you know who you are more and like you, I'm definitely over pretending to like the same things as everyone else! Great post!!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely day :)
Rosanna x
Rose's Rooftop
Glad you feel the same, it’s tiring pretending to be anything you’re not! Xx
DeleteI'm much more confident now when I'm older and I fell better! :)
ReplyDeleteMERI WILD BLOG
I'm glad you feel the same! x
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