I’m sooooooo fed up with the pressure we all have in our 20s. Like why is our generation so obsessed with doing things before we’re 30? Like what’s so different about being 30 instead of being in your 20s? Especially as women we no longer need to think so hard about things like our fertility (thanks medicine love u) so why do we still feel like our 20s are so weirdly precious and can be so easily wasted? 

This whole post has come from the fact that I keep feeling like I’ve wasted the last six months of my life (and the height of my 20s – I am the ripe old age of 25) due to lovely miss rona. I had a absolute meltdown the other day because I felt like my 20s were running away without me being to enjoy them – which firstly is so melodramatic I need to get a grip but secondly it is based of the pure b*llshit spread to us all day everyday about how important our 20s are and it’s about time we stopped that rhetoric. 

Yeah, our 20s are important, of course they are. They’re when you make your biggest and best mistakes. When you discover who you really are and establish what you want in life. They’re when you become a real full blown adult that makes their own decisions (instead of calling your mum to ask what toothpaste to buy, you know). They’re so important for our own personal growth without the added pressure of ‘making the most’ of them. 

What does that even mean anyway? Because I’m sure that every single one of my friends would give you a different answer, and yet none of them are wasting or have wasted their 20s, because that’s the whole point – you cannot waste them because there is simply no wrong or right way to live your 20s (or ever but let’s stay focused). I truly and firmly believe that your 20s are for making mistakes and figuring out who you are, so if the ‘wasting’ bits are when you make mistakes – then isn’t that the whole bloody point?

I think that everybody, of all ages, feels rubbish about the timing of coronavirus. If you’re young, you feel like you’re missing out, if you’re old you feel like you haven’t got much time yet, if you’re middle aged you probably have way too many responsibilities anyway without a global pandemic to think about. There’s been no ‘good time’ for this pandemic for anybody. And actually, for a while, I considered myself pretty lucky that I was in my 20s during this time. Because I don’t have exams and university to worry about, I don’t have the added concern of being ‘old’ and more at risk and I equally don’t have kids to worry about (because wow homeschooling like that, no thanks). 

And actually, I have learnt more about myself in the last six months than I have done for the last 25 years. OK, I had an added change in my life that others may not have, but I think most of us 20-something’s can agree – the pandemic has only helped us grow into the people we want to be, no?

I have learnt how to be a better friend and a better sister. I have learnt how to enjoy my own company and stop being such a dick to myself all the time. I’ve learnt how to work smarter and harder (because I am, quite frankly, a work-a-holic let’s be honest). I have learnt how to process and deal with my emotions better than I ever have before. I’ve started focusing on my body and treating it better with consistent (note, not necessarily frequent lol) exercise and yoga, and also wine (wine police don’t @ me). I have learnt how to forgive myself and how to grow – without sounding like a dick – I genuinely feel like this year has been a year of growth and change for me like no other period in my whole life. 

So, in short, there’s no such thing as ‘wasting your 20s’ and coronavirus is not an excuse to have that pity party. Of course, coronavirus is a good enough excuse for pretty much any other pity party because it well and truly sucks – but it is not going to ruin your 20s and it will not last forever. I wish I could go back to my insecure and emotional 16-year-old-self and tell her that I’d be a strong, independent, successful 25-year-old in 10 years time. Once I’m out living my best life again, there’ll be no stopping me. Watch this space x