Turning Twenty-five

Today is my 25th birthday.

Something in my head has marked 25 as the last year you can be young, and be forgiven for it. I'm still living with my parents, and I'm studying something where the majority of my classmates are 16. Sometimes, I feel like a failure compared to others my age. But then I think about what I do that others don't, and I feel a little better. I know it's not like I'm the only 25-year-old who's still living at home, but many of the ones I know have moved out. Still, that's the sort of thing that different people manage in their own time.

25 is halfway to fifty, and I can't deny I'm getting older, but I'm also feeling better and better as I get older. I'm more accepting of things now, then when I was young. I would berate myself for every minor mistake, and stress over every tiny thing I didn't like about my body. Now, I go "oh well" and get over it. I no longer take what others say about me to heart. I became good at believing if people didn't like me for who I am, they weren't worth impressing.

I guess what I'm saying is there's no reason to fear getting older, I no longer do. My life is getting better with each year. Getting older is only giving me more things to look forward to. More places to travel, books to read, people to meet.