Let me just start by saying I am so grateful to have lived another loving, happy, and healthy year. So many things have changed by either starting or ending this past year, but I do like to believe that everything is happening as it is supposed to. I have to say though, ever since I was a little girl, I had a picture in my mind about how things would be during certain landmark birthdays throughout my life. Sixteen would sweet, fresh, and fun. An exciting start to the ending years of high school. A time where I would have a later curfew time, a fresh new driver’s permit, and the promise of college not so far away. Eighteen was adulthood–at least legally. Going away for college and starting my life away from the home and comfort I had grown so accustomed to. Twenty-one was really adulthood–at least in vodka soda language. But twenty-five. Twenty-five is no longer early twenties. It’s no longer “just graduated college (even though I only did last year…when you switch colleges, it takes you longer for that Bachelors…that’s a story for another blog post). It’s no longer “I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do for the rest of my life.” I always thought that at twenty-five, I would have my life figured out, career set and started, and either be engaged or married. My life right now could not be farther from that. My life is definitely not “figured out” (is anyone’s really?). My career is not set or started (I love teaching little ones, but is going back to school and committing to another 2-3 years for my Master’s degree what I really want and what I was destined to do for the rest of my life?). And I am absolutely not engaged, or married, or anything even remotely close to that. I still wonder daily what I want to do for the rest of my life. And I still wonder if I’m falling behind in my imaginary schedule of what I had planned as a little girl. I’m not sure if this is something that every fresh twenty-five year old experiences. But when I start feeling way too overwhelmed with all of these major life questions, that little “everything is happening as it is supposed to” quote pops in my head. I’m twenty-five and probably going through that “quarter life crisis” everyone talks about, but when I think back to sixteen, or eighteen, or even twenty-one, I remember asking myself those same questions: “Am I where a ___ year old is supposed to be right now?” “Am I falling behind people my age?”
I have been one to always question, but I need to take it one day at a time. Experiences I am living now in this very moment are preparing me for what is to come. The only thing I can do is relax, follow my intuition, and have fun along the ride. Everything is happening as it is supposed to.
-Allie xxo
Here are some of my 25th birthday moments from this past weekend!
