Everything I Learned About Life From Ages 18 To 25

Sometimes I look in the mirror to find myself wondering where my life has taken me from the age of 18 to 25. Two ages that we consider a milestone for many reasons. If we haven’t changed our opinions, perspectives, goals, choices, and relationships through these years, have we really grown?

Seven years ago, 25 felt old. 25 looked like a successful career, a marriage with the love of your life, a sense of togetherness in your daily life. It looked like independence, steadiness, and confidence. It looked like relying on yourself by carrying the weight of troubles on only your shoulders. It looked like a smooth, straight pathway to attaining the life you envisioned.

But it’s never as simple as we believe it to be. The older I get, the more life seems to continue backward for me.

25 is actually a power struggle between yourself and the things life throws at you. It doesn’t feel as old anymore. It’s switching career paths when you were so sure of what you wanted. It’s changing your views on fairytale love through experiencing and witnessing heartbreaks. It’s filled with self-consciousness, constantly comparing your success on an invisible scale to those around you. It’s panicking because what seemed like a simple route is now blurred with ten different detours. It’s running away from the people, places, and emotions that never truly left but having the courage to pull yourself back to face them.

But on the positive side, It’s realizing you don’t have to fight your battles alone because you have endless support. It’s discovering how much you need your parents and how much they need you regardless of age. It’s forming connections with people and places you never thought would be an integral part of your life. It’s making a conscious effort to dig yourself out of the deadly hole your mind creates for you. It’s making choices you once thought you were against. It’s letting go of searching for answers to unanswered questions. It’s maturity in the most real perspective. It’s finally understanding how life can truly change in just a moment and finding the strength to adjust to those changes.

The countless number of experiences in these past seven years create who we are at this moment and all of it feels like it happened in the blink of an eye.

Who we thought we’d become and who we are now feels like two different worlds as we embrace the reality that life isn’t ever how we imagined it would be.