Diary of A 25-Year-Old: Why It’s Not Too Late to Start Over

What do you want to be when you grow up?

A phrase many of us have heard as children, and a sentence that was filled with endless dreams and opportunities. An astronaut, a teacher, a vet — the sky was the limit, and these very fantasies are what kept us so blissfully unaware of what life would later throw at us.

But at twenty-five, we are grown up. Many of us have ‘flown the nest’, and this expectation, and this longing to search for what we want to do, comes to a halt. We must be wise, and start saving to buy a house, or to ‘grind’ at work for years in industries that we may not love, but keep us secure and allow us to gain experience. We get caught in the vicious 9–5 cycle, the so-called ‘hustle’ culture of working hard and playing very little, that we soon think, is it too late? Too late to spend a year in Rome, too late to go back to university to study something new or too late to change jobs.

The fear of losing this adult comfort blanket, and of going against the norm of what is expected of us, is indeed the very thing that restrains us from exploring what life is meant to be about.

There are a couple of steps that have helped my anxious brain settle that have slowly helped me understand the importance of taking a step back to see my path, and analyse which turn I must take in order to take back some control in my life.

Making time for starting over

What is a hobby you have always wanted to try but never had the ‘time’ for? Whether this is painting, cycling or singing — you must allow yourself to revel in what excites you. Perhaps this is a matter of persuading yourself to go to that yoga class you have always wanted to try, or joining the city choir. Start by setting aside 30 minutes everyday solely for this activity as if it were taking the time to care for your younger self. It’s important as we get older to escape the stresses of our work life and to feel like children again. Making mistakes and playing within the mess. Granting yourself the time to focus purely on one thing and that one thing alone.

Getting lost

Do you catch yourself at work or in your sleep thinking about places that are far away from your reality? Contemplating the ‘what ifs’, and wondering how your life could be different. Although losing yourself in thought can feel like a creative expression, this very act can have negative impacts on your daily mood. Rather than dreaming of a future and making it happen, these imaginations enable us to feel envy for that altered version of ourselves, and in turn making us feel worse day-to-day.

The same goes for building the bridge of jealousy towards others.’That person just got engaged’, or ‘this couple just bought a house’. These focuses are distracting you from your own journey.

There is a metaphor — imagine yourself as a runner in a marathon. You’re keeping a steady pace during the race but you’re focused on the runners in front of you. You feel that you’re slower than the rest of them and you start to feel conscious that you must ‘keep up’. There are runners beside you but the focus remains in front. But does your focus ever look back? You may have a worry of those beside you running ahead, but you would never fear those behind. Much like our life, we always focus our attention on those further ahead of us or those passing us but we never notice those who see us ahead of them. These people could easily look at us as those who are ‘winning’ the race and envy the progress that we have made.

Using this analogy highlights the importance of all of us taking our own journeys. Life may feel short, but it is far from a race.

Highlighting what’s important

Imagine yourself in five years. Where do you see yourself? Is it in the same place you find yourself in at this very moment, or is it five thousand miles away? How would you like to feel in five years? What do you want to be doing in five years?

It’s important to ask yourself these questions and to remain inquisitive. Whether you’re twenty-five or ninety-five, curiosity should remain at the forefront of your mind. Without it we simply became robots in a system that is unforgiving. A system that squeezes every last imagination out of us and crushes it right at our feet.

Perhaps you have grown up, but don’t let it stop you from growing.