By Zahra Bhatti
“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different…” ― C.S. Lewis
Life isn’t what it used to be but we are also not who we used to be. Looking back at time when we were still children, so young, innocent, unaware of all the worries and then out of nowhere life hits you like a ton of bricks. Have life always been so complicated? I guess not. We made it the way it is now and are pushing it to extend where it will be hard for us to reverse back. The fact is time exists and everyone experiences it differently.
Being 25 means you are now officially allowed to begin your quarter-life crisis. You can no longer give the “I’m young and dumb” excuse. But feeling unfair and uncertain at times is a part of your path. Here are some feelings we all have at 25:
- A feeling of being trapped by your life choices. Feeling as though you are living your life on autopilot
- The confused feeling of not being a girl yet not a woman
- That worn-out feeling where meeting a bunch of strangers seem more like a nightmare
- Feeling depressed, lost and empty at late night hours
- Being single and feeling forever alone
- Relationships suddenly scare you more than they used to fascinate you
- You wished to grow up soon so that you can do all the adult things and now you want to cry over for being an adult too soon
- You constantly go back and forth and have a hard decision making going overseas to explore vs. building your career
- The moment you realize your true friends were the only you met in kindergarten or school years
- Your life becomes less about party and late night movies and more about making a routine and a stable life
- From being so disorganized, your room is so organized now
- It’s the time when you are no longer excited about your birthday and cry to sleep that night
- It’s the time when you start using phrases like “remember we used to do this in college” and it strikes you how old you have become because college was 6 years ago, damn!
- It’s the moment you are being called an ”aunty” by every little kid
- When everyone start asking you inevitable questions like “when are you getting married?” or “When are going to get a job?”
- Dealing with friends and people who are having kids at your age
- You only do gym and exercise to keep in shape and get married
- You want to explore the world and everything has to be an adventure
- You know you need to learn to cook and drive
- Realizing the fact that everyone works for his own survival and self interest
- Not knowing where you will end up no matter how much you earn
- Striving to be the best at everything and yet it’s never enough
- Realizing that you can no longer depend upon your parents\ guardians for money
- Realizing the fact that the older you get, the more life becomes complicated
- Being easily disappointed by people you meet everyday
But despite all the points mentioned above, being 25 is a special age and your parents will pamper you no matter how old you are. It’s time to start believing that being single at 25 is okay, being selfish at times is okay, not knowing everything is okay and being rejected at some point is okay because in the end we are still awesome! And if the memories we made still makes us happy, there is no need to be sad because we have lived a good life.
Zahra Bhatti
The author is an aspiring writer and researcher that writes about social, political and global issues along with emotional issues that are not touched otherwise. She is a researcher at the National Defence University and has done her Masters in Social Sciences from Bahria University. Her majors in Research is International Relations.