So I have turned 25 just a while ago.
And so happen, how "appropriately" this article showed up on my facebook feed.
Honestly, this is a pretty good read.
Then just somehow, coincidentally (or not) people started sharing more and more similar thought post on being in your 20's or 25s...
From top right to bottom left: (a) The 25 Scariest Things About Turning 25, (b) 25 Lessons I Learned By 25, and (c) 25 Things I Know Now That I'm 25
I’m feeling a little weirded out by all of the birthday blog posts I’ve been seeing lately. All these got me thinking what's the big deal about turning 25? Or it is a big deal? I remember joking with my older friends or friends who were turning 25 like "what's the big deal, its only 25!" and continued to joke about "we have roam this earth for a quarter of a century now..." Many responded about the dread and uneasiness and warn me that you will experience the same thing.
Honestly, now I have officially turned 25, I liked to say that the "wave of dread and uneasiness" did not quite hit me. Yes, I feel a tad older (DUH? after all one year has passed and biologically your body has taken another year of beating). I hadn't planned on writing a birthday-post really. But since a group of my friends (K&J) said to my on my birthday that "you only turn a big -25-once" so I thought it would be appropriate for me to document a few of my thoughts as a person who is officially now a quarter of a century old.
K & J on my birthday
At the age of 25, living in an Asian country embedded with many traditions and practices, one (especially a senior) will always asked. What are you doing now? (Simply put, what have you achieved?) Are you seeing someone now? (Getting married yet? Your cousins are already popping babies...) Oh this is one of my favourite - Heard you are still in school (In their eyes, you are still bumping and wasting your life away in school.) To many, twenty-five is the age of professional athletes or successful professionals. Twenty-five is the age of married couples and parents to many little ones.
Twenty-five is the age of people who are out of their confusing early
20s and on-track with their careers and lives in general.
Honestly i can't quite say that i am in those one of the twenty-five group. I am neither a professional athlete now (like many of my ex team mates have become), nor am i a proud married woman with toddlers running around at home (still single and ever for available to mingle). I can't quite say that i am a successful professional either given that i am less than a year into my first job. Have I failed? To some perhaps, but in my eyes not really. Things like successful career, owning or en-route to having a prefect family etc. should not be the milestone determining our successes at the age of 25.
Today, at the age of 25, I'd liked to think that I am pretty successful (not in the usual terms). I'd like to think that regardless of the "tradition milestones" that many 25 should have achieved, I have achieved my own set of "unique milestones" that many have yet to experience. At the age of 25, I am proud to say that I have had one too many exciting experiences. I've gotten the chance to experience unique profession not many people could. I learnt what it takes to "attempt" to become a professional athlete. Put in endless hours to training, teared ever so occasionally due to sheer toughness of the sports, punished the ever so tired body demanded by the brunt of this sport. As an added bonus, I get to travel around the world for professional competitions, travel to exotic places and made many amazing friends that you otherwise would not have met. At the age of 25, I am a proud holder of my Master degree. When people chose to go straight into a job right after graduation, I have decided to go back to school yet again. I am thankful to have made this decision and the enormous support from my family. Today I am clear of what I would like to achieve with my life and what kind of career I want to have. At the age of 25, I started my first job in a professional area (healthcare) which has bring me much joy and enthusiasm. Have I reached my "tradition milestones"? Not really. But I am closer to where I was yesterday. Have I failed. Not really. I have had setbacks, made terrible decisions (which some I have come to regret a little), and wasted time. But it is these experience that made me me.
At the age of 25, I have grown so much, coming out of my
shell, gained great deal of confidence and acquire skills and knowledge
which my 20 year old self wouldn't have.
I think part of growing up is realizing that the cookie cutter lifestyle is a myth. We are NOT suppose to be at certain checkpoints at certain age. We think we know what we're supposed to be doing with our lives at different age, but in reality these "checkpoints" are different for everyone. Perhaps if we stop fussing over where we should be at certain age, and start realizing what we want to be then turning 25 is really not too bad. To my fellow people out there who is 25, or turning 25 soon... REALLY IT'S NO BIG DEAL. Turning 25 or being 25 should be an exciting time of our lives. It should still be the time that we continue exploring and making mistakes because we still have time to correct the wrongs. And I say we live it to the fullest!
Cheers, I~
