Recently I have often thought about what it would be like to be a kid again. I was scrolling through my Mom’s Instagram when I saw old pictures of my youngest sister as a toddler and her bright smile that showed she had no worries in the world. I think about how much she has faced already as an eleven year old and how she should be living her best life as a little fifth grader with unlimited friends and playdates. Now almost out of my teen years, I wish I could protect her from anything the world will throw at her so that she can live happily as a child. While thinking of my younger sister, I also think of myself and how everyone around me is growing up so quickly that they don’t stop and be young.
I think it’s pretty common knowledge that people should enjoy their twenties and make the mistakes in life while you can. Yet I feel like I am entering my twenties, and I should have experienced so much more than just education and financial stress. In my head, I think that entering my twenties means I have to get my life together and realize I am getting to the point where I need to figure out what I want to do since I am getting closer to an age where most other people have their lives figured out. Slowly there has been a shift over time of people feeling the need to grow up quicker rather than enjoy their youth, and this can start as young as eleven years old.
The act of trying to grow up faster than you need to typically has to do with social pressures or the way someone is raised, and how independent they become at a young age. If someone doesn’t have a strong support system as a kid, then they usually grow up faster because they are forced to be their own support system. Sadly, the realization that one grew up fast and didn’t get to experience being a kid doesn’t hit until they are older, and it’s already too late. This is why it’s important to remember that although twenty years old sounds old to someone that age because they remember just being ten, it truly is an age where there is so much time to still be and act young.
Take this as a sign to go to the beach, eat at that fancy restaurant, go clubbing with some friends, and remember to have fun in everything that you do. You are too young to be doing things that you don’t genuinely enjoy and add happiness to your life. While this is a sign to have fun, this doesn’t mean messing up your priorities. It’s significant to stay balanced and learn how to have fun while still staying on track with life. If you mess up and have a setback, it’s okay. It’s okay because you are young. You have time to build your life up again and learn from that mistake.
One day you will wake up and you are fifty years old, not saying this is old, but you will be settled in life. It will be your decisions along the way that will determine whether you are content or feel empty with your life by the age that it is too late to make mistakes and act young. So enjoy the youth you have now because to be young is something no one can ever take away from you.