Turning 24 in 2014

9 comments
When I was younger I had the majority of my life ahead planned out. I thought by 24 I'd have a good job, maybe my own place and I'd be a proper 'grown up'. Fast forward to now, a few weeks before my 24th birthday and life couldn't be more different. So here I am, 24th birthday looming, I live at home and my career is nowhere where I wanted it to be. The Friends theme song is very relevant to my life, "your lifes a joke, your broke, your love lifes DOA" sound familiar?

There's always a possibility. 

I feel like I did everything I was supposed to do, I had good grades throughout my education, went to university and got a good grade which I was proud of, and for a degree that I enjoyed. After university I suddenly faced so much rejection from jobs and felt a little lost. I carried on with the job I had during university and got an internship with a company in the field I wanted to work in which links with my degree. After a couple years the job rejection is taking its toll and working for free in an internship is drowning the soul. There is a part of me that thinks society places such a strong impact on 'go to university if you want a good job' this may have been true many years ago but not now. When my mother was my age she was married and had a house, whereas I'm part of the 24% of 20-24 year olds living at home. Don't get me wrong I quite enjoy living at home, but a do fear that owning a house one day will only be a dream and not reality.

I think societies views on what makes a proper 'adult' e.g a house, marriage, kids, is definitely why I don't feel like one. However with events and life experiences which happened during my teens I do feel like I have grown up quickly. Like many others I am constantly torn between the pressures of society and people around me. Questions such as when do I plan to get married not only evoke an eye roll, but also make me think when will society change its archaic views. No, I'm not married and no, I don't have my dream job, but does that make me less of a 'grown up' than my mother was at my age? Circumstances change, hello recession but why don't our societies archaic views. Maybe our views have to change and not change ourselves. Maybe it's no longer a question of when will you get married, but would you want to?

Not only are people in our generation compared to those in past generations, those comparisons we can deal with. However, comparing ourselves to people we know similar in age or circumstance are when issues can arise. I admit to getting down when I think of my life compared to someone I know, and with social media almost being used as a bragging tool its hard not to. I think its important to remember that the path others have taken in life are not necessarily the same for you. Deep down you might not want the same as them and if you did have what they had what makes you think you would be happy? Remember people only share what they want to on social media. It's OK to feel a lost and confused about the future, my twenties so far have been the biggest transitional period in my life so far. I think the most important thing is to do what makes you happy. Don't try and conform or meet societies age goals. I personally don't think their relevant any more.

Age will always only be a number, I think its much more important to look at life experiences and maturity. I may not be conforming to societies age goals, or have a house and husband but its much more liberating to throw those age goals out the window.

After years of having my life planned out for me through education, after leaving it, I can say I'm still not entirely dealing with it that well. If I'm honest I don't know exactly what I want to do or have a five year plan, in fact a 5 month plan is daunting enough. Any plans I did have have been thwarted, that's life I guess. If you find yourself in a similar situation, try not to panic. Take a deep breath. Relax, the walls won't collapse around you. Do what you want to do, don't worry about society or any age goals. If you can't find what you want to do at some point you'll realise what it is.

I'd love to know some your thoughts.

9 comments:

  1. I just wrote a big long comment about how and why I agree with all your points but then I accidentally clicked back and lost it all. My general gist was that I totally understand where you're coming from. I live at home, I'm 23, I'm in a minimum wage job despite having a degree. By society's standards I might not have achieved much for my age but that doesn't stop me feeling any less of a 'grown up'. I'm trying to ignore age goals and just focus on my life which generally I'm pretty happy with.
    Totally relate to feeling lost without education. Real life is much harder to plan. Plus I'd give anything for 6 weeks off in the summer every year, definitely didn't appreciate that enough at the time :)
    -x-

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    1. Hi Charlotte, Don't worry I've done that before, actually numerous times haha. Thank you so much for reading and for your comment. I've found that ignoring age goals is much more liberating. At one point I realised I was focusing so much on those 'goals' that I wasn't enjoying myself any more, and I was wasting my early twenties worrying about stuff I didn't have much control over. I agree real life is so much harder to plan, its so daunting. I remember being so bored during the summer holidays, now I wish I had done more in that time. I'm sure when we're older we'll look at this time in our lives and wish we did more too haha. But I guess that's just part of life.

      Sammi
      Xxx

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  2. Love this post! Completely agree. As long as you're making yourself happy, ignore outside pressures or society's 'expectations'. There is time to be settled and have a family and responsibilities, enjoy your twenties and find what you love, the rest will fall into place.

    "Comparison is the thief of joy".

    Popcorn & Polka Dots

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    1. Hi Hannah, I love that quote! Thank you for your kind words. That is great advice, I completely agree, enjoy your twenties and do what makes you happy.

      Sammi
      Xx

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  3. I think you have to ignore age. Hopefully you will have decades left in your life. I think if we followed the traditional way by now in having a steady job, house and family just think . . . you have to do that for the next 45 years! We seem to think life will stop at 30/40. You may look a little older that is all. You can still change your career, buy a house, marry, discover new passions.

    Saying that though, you do have to be a little realistic. If you want to move out of home (me) then you need to do something to change that. It may not be a job in your dream field but if it enables you to change just one thing in your life then it is better than having no change and being frustrated surely? xx

    Amy at Amy & More

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    1. Hi Amy I agree I think we have to ignore age and age goals. It might be a blessing in disguise that we haven't followed the 'traditional' way. I completely agree, some change is so much better than being stagnant.

      xx

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  4. Oh and WHERE is that coke machine, it looks amazing! x

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    1. Its at Five Guys! The food is really good but the drinks machine is so much better haha. So many options! There must be over 100 options, it takes me forever to choose.

      xx

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  5. Ah i've heard about that. The food looks expensive but would be worth it to try the machine! x

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