AWESOME 20's

What we learn in our twenties:

1.       Your luck is like your morning potty. It’s down in the gutter.

2.       The rumors are true: your metabolism does slow down as you get older! That means if you’re still eating whatever you want, there’s a good chance you’ll start to gain an awkward amount of weight. It won’t be too drastic but your clothes will start to hang differently on your body and you’ll feel an overall feeling of unattractiveness. Now, haven’t you heard that before ?

3.       You’re going to lose touch with a lot of your friends. With some people, it will be expected but with others it will feel like a punch to the stomach (Read: Balls). No friendship is truly safe in your twenties. You’re undergoing so many personal and professional changes that there’s bound to be some casualties along the way. Don’t worry though. You’ll end up with the ones that matter. If someone’s no longer in your life, it’s for a reason.

4.       You’ll be jealous of everyone who’s more successful than you. That’s okay. It’s mundane.

5.       You’ll question every decision you make and never feel completely certain that you made the right choice. It’s pointless to wonder though. You’re here now so you might as well make it be the right decision.

6.       You’re going to give your heart to a few people who don’t deserve it. Then, one day you’ll come to your senses and ask them to give it back.

7.       You’ll see your parents get older. You’ll come home during weekends and festivals and see new wrinkles developing on their faces. One day it’ll just hit you that your parents are old and going to die. There’s nothing you can do about it, besides treat them with kindness and visit as much as your budget and time permits.

8.      You’ll find yourself in an environment filled with people who make you feel like you’re nothing. Appreciation will be sorely missed.

9.       Doing drugs is fun until it’s not, until it starts affecting your life in negative ways and leaves you feeling guilty and wrecked.

10.   You’ll know how to make 200rs last an entire week because you spent almost all of your paycheck on groceries (Read: cigarettes and alcohol) . This lesson in frugality will serve you well.

11.    You’re going to betray your convictions. You’re going to feel shame. You’re going to continue to put yourself in situations that aren’t good for you. And then, slowly but surely, it will become less frequent. It might not ever go away completely but it won’t be as bad. In the meantime, stop shame spiraling about it. It gets you nowhere.

12.    Hating yourself is easy. Loving yourself is harder.
On the other hand, you will also soon realize that we talk about ourselves for the same reason we criticize others – TO FEEL GOOD. Promoting yourself and pulling down others also serve the same purpose. 2 sides of the same coin.

13.    You’re going to have people in your life who are toxic. They may say that they love you, they may say that they have your back, but they don’t. Get rid of them.

14.    You’ll have moments with someone that are so intense, it’ll feel like you’ve been electrocuted back to life. You’ll hold on to these moments for a long time. They’ll give you hope when you’re going through the motions.

15.    You’ll always care about your first love. That doesn’t make you crazy, it just makes you human. When relationships end, it’s not so cut and dry. You carry everyone you’ve ever loved into every relationship thereafter.

16.    You’ll enter your twenties as a fashion disaster and (hopefully) leave them looking fantastic. If you don’t know how to put yourself together by then, God help you. You’ll realize that the Internet can be a cruel son of a bitch but, you know, www.youdontgiveashit.com.

17.    So much of what you think matters doesn’t actually matter at all. It’s kind of rude isn’t it?

18.    You’ll treat someone terribly. Whether it to be a lover or your friend, there’ll be someone whose feelings you take for granted. We focus too much on whether or not someone is hurting us. The reality is that we might actually be the one who’s hurting someone.

19.    Doing “grown-up things” doesn’t make you a grown up. Shopping for housewares, buying a plant, embracing domesticity — these things don’t create maturity. If you’re still a baby who hasn’t figured things out, you’ll remain a baby, no matter how many times you pay your rent on time.

20.   Don’t force yourself into loving anyone. If it’s not working in the beginning, it’s probably not going to work ever.

21.    You are so lucky to have everything that you have. Stop crying about an unreturned text message and get some perspective.

22.   Don’t go too long without having sex. Ever. If fruitless, use your hands.

This is what our twenties are for — to feel and see as much as we can, to take advantage of not being tied down to anything and anyone and to go berserk with everything that we do. Make our own mistakes. We’re an unfinished piece. We hate getting upset over little things, about being constantly unraveled by ignored text messages, parents, grades, and friends, but we have to remember something: we don’t know ourselves entirely yet. Before the age of 20, we were mostly under our parents care, a reflection of what was going on around us. We didn’t have the liberty to make our own choices, our very own mistakes. We were merely living the life someone set out for you.  Being in our twenties allows us to start carving out the life we want for ourselves. Everything is on our terms now which seems daunting but is actually liberating. For the first time in our lives we’re the boss. Lets start dictating the terms.

It’s important to realise about why our 20s are great because it seems like we spend so much of our time wanting to be somewhere else other than where we are right now. Think about it. Why the hell are we in such a hurry to live some boring grown up adult life that we saw at a Restaurant or a Movie? Because once we do get there, we’re stuck for a long time. The novelty’s going to wear off, we’re going to get old and married and have babies, and everything will be amazing but don’t think for a second that you won’t be nostalgic for this time. We will miss being a mess.This is a luxury. It’s going to leave us eventually so we better freaking enjoy it. We better enjoy every lame ass party, every sloppy kiss, every 7 AM hangover, every drug experience, every crappy brawls, because one day it will all be gone and you’ll just be left with the pictures and the bruises and nothing else. Youth is fucking magic. Don’t you get it? Look at your skin! Touch it. Look at your chest hairs and stomach. Grab it. When you’re older, and no longer have bladder-control you’ll want all of this again so bad. It burns while you pee now; marvel in it.

We’re not stuck. Even if it feels like we are, it’s not true. We’re the opposite of stuck. As 20 somethings, we’re constantly moving — apartments, relationship, cities, jobs. Anything is possible. And the possibilities are endless, when you are young. We’re the new generation. What do you have to say? Don’t bite your tongue. One day you’ll be pushed aside for a younger “fresher” perspective so you better get it out now. Make a mark. Make a stain. Make something. Even a brilliant fart noise would do.

We should love every single moment of this hot mess of a decade. Chances are we’ll miss it before we even get to say “I’m 30.”