Waxing Poet About Turning 25

I can’t turn 25 and not write about it, obviously. I’ve only been 25 for a couple of days, but so far so good. I love everyone else’s birthday but usually dread my own.

To cure any potential birthday blues, I decided to turn to my instant mood booster, Stevie Wonder. When the presidential election happened, I started listening to the song “A Place In The Sun”. While we were waiting, I reminded myself that the joy was going to be there. After this, the song became my theme song for 2021. I’ve done surprisingly well considering the pandemic and in a way this makes me feel more powerful.

I’m making an effort to have more joy and peace in my life. We’re living during a global pandemic and yet I’m still hopeful. My health has been great, my life is slowly coming back together. All of this gives me hope.

My birthday also marks my mid-year audit. Twice a year, I look at my life and think about how I’m going to move forward. During 2018 and 2019, I was just trying to work enough and get by. Now, I realize I have to think about how my actions are going to impact me long-term. Someone asked me about my work in 2019 and I realized I couldn’t remember.

The big question is and will continue to be, how do I manage what I need and what I want? I think my ambition has hurt me just as much as it’s helped me. But now, my health has to come first and everything else shakes out wherever it does. At some point, I started to wonder if I was asking for too much from other people. Eventually, I thought, maybe I am because I’m asking for too much from myself. And if part of healing is forgiving other people, I think it means you have to forgive yourself too.

Do I seem older and wiser, while still being young and fun? I’m really excited about this year, I have a lot of ideas tinkering in my head.