It’s always funny to me when friends of mine will declare themselves as old when they are turning 22, when I can imagine anyone older will be rolling their eyes at the thought that 22 is old. I realize that age is relative, but why do people age themselves at all? What I mean is, why do we all the sudden feel as we are older just because of the amount of years we have been on this Earth?
In parts of the world, some people have no idea when they were born and only have a general idea of their age. The idea of having a birthday and celebrating it is more of a western theme. This idea was crazy to me the first time I heard of it; considering we westerners value youth, and we also value parties and getting free drinks.
However, it’s actually a nice idea to not feel the pressure of age. Just think about a world where we would just live our lives throughout the year and not make it such a big deal that we are getting older.
When I was growing up and acting out, my mom would always say, “Act your age, not your shoe size.” First, this is just a weird phrase to say. Second, not a set standard of how a 7 year old should behave. As we do with our weight, I like to think we always fluctuate in age. In different social settings we act older then we actually are. We play a part when we are at work or in class. But in other aspects of life we may act very young in both good and bad ways.
My dad asked me a while ago how old I felt, and on that day I said I still feel like I am 16. But other times I can feel older like 25 or 98 (depending how bad the hangover is). It depends on my mood and the amount of responsibilities I have to do at that moment. When I asked my dad that same question, he said he still feels like he is 30 and he’s 60.
It just goes to show that time is truly all relative and to not trip up your life because you’re not doing what other people your age are doing. People need time, yet we hinder ourselves when it comes to life itself. Always counting down and adding up… sometimes it would be nice to just not have another number in your life defining how you should feel.