20-Somethings Love: Themselves

I’m not going to lie – I love myself. I mean, there are definitely some things I don’t love about myself (my weight, my thighs, the fact my hair doesn’t curl well, etc – you know, the usual). But that doesn’t mean I am not crazily obsessed with the face I see in the mirror every morning… and that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t put my needs and wants before anything or anyone else. Well, at least not right now.

As a 23 year old college graduate, there are many things I care about… my job, my bank account, my boyfriend, my family, drinking, etc… but I certainly don’t have to care about these things as much as I will have to in the future. Eventually, my job will turn into a career. My bank account will turn into savings for a house,  a car, etc. Instead of a boyfriend, I’ll have a husband. Instead of having my parents take care of me, I’ll be a parent taking care of kids (ahh!). And drinking – well, let’s just say I won’t be able to go out nearly as much as I do now – if at all.

So basically, right now it’s all about me. If I want to move, I can move. I don’t have anything or anyone holding me back (well, there is that small ‘money’ factor – but at least I don’t have a husband or kids keeping me put). If I want to change careers (I don’t – this is just a general article), I can. I don’t have to worry about feeding a family… If I can’t feed myself for a week, fine – I’ll lose weight.

Being in your twenties is all about being free. It really is. You’re growing up, but you’re not a ‘grown up’ yet. You’re graduating college, which makes you feel old, but then you start work and once again are one of the youngest people around (minus the interns). You’re not married… You have no kids (or maybe you do – idk). But for the majority of 20-somethings out there, you are free to do whatever you want. You’re not tied down to anything just quite yet. You don’t have to worry about anything… except yourself.

And that is why now – your twenties – is the time to love yourself. Have you ever dreamed of living somewhere new (even if only for a short time)? Are you willing to sacrifice a few nights out and a couple of new dresses to pay rent for an awesome apartment? Do you want to try out one career and if you don’t like it, move on to another… or go back to school? Because you can do all of this. And you can do it in your twenties! I mean – isn’t that what this time period in our lives is for?

One day, I think we’ll look back on these times and wish we went out more. We’ll wish we worked up the energy to go out every so often during the week – because one day, we will have even less energy during the weekend… We’ll want the noisy neighbors back because everything will be quiet. We’ll want the street sounds of the city coming through our window because the suburbs will be boring. We’ll want girls nights and guys nights. We’ll want less bills… less things to care about. Less things to worry about. We’ll want it to be all about us again – but it won’t be. It never will be.

So for now, until you get settled somewhere and start a family, have fun. Enjoy your youth (you are still young). Enjoy your free time (even though you don’t think you have any). But most importantly – enjoy YOU. Do what you want without worrying about what anyone else wants from you – and eventually it will all fall into place…