So recently an older friend of mine was talking to me about life and goals wanting to accomplish before certain “age deadlines”. You know, like having a family, housing and all that. They kept emphasizing to me that I’m young. I’m Young. I’m YOUNG!! Use my 20’s to explore life while I still can. I know it was said with good intentions and passing wisdom, but what many forget is. . . I’m an old soul at heart.
It’s become cliche to say that, but no I am not those who think it’s cool to not follow the trends for the sake of not following trends; or however else people think of the cliche. I can sit down and watch The Little Rascals, The Marx Brothers, Magnum P.I., Mr. Belvedere, and many other shows before and during my time. I can listen to music from the 40’s to now, go to the sock hop or the cool new coffee shop, and talk with others; no matter the background. I know how to save and plan ahead for my life, yet sit back and have fun and be spontaneous. Appreciating the little moments, yet striving for big time accomplishments in my life. Life’s too short to think about drama or worry about physical things, but at the same time we must be able to prioritize what matters and not be so carefree that we let things fly away. Whether it’s me or someone else who can relate, the point being made is that one should never assume we act our age or think like our generation only.
Some think beyond their years lived, while others stay behind their time and refuse to age. There are positives and negatives of this, but overall we are certainly capable of bending the social norms of what’s expected. Some prefer having kids at an older age, while others much younger. Careers may be established early, while seeing the world 
can be put first before coming home and setting roots down. The thing is. . . we always will plant our roots down somewhere; maybe not forever, but certainly for a long time. You don’t typically see 70 year old people selling everything to travel the world. And to those who do travel, they always have a home to come back to. Stability. See no matter what my fellow young generation may think, we do slow down as we get older. In some capacity, we do. We don’t want so much unknown, rather we want security.
We want to be able to reflect and say, we were able to accomplish this and can relax. For if we don’t accomplish X, Y and Z, then we feel unsatisfied. We don’t know what happens after life, we only know this life so of course we want to feel content with what we do in such little time. But does life end after the age of 29? Definitely not! Yet sometimes it feels that way, based on what 30+ year olds say, because looks may fade or family springs up or careers are firmly established. We come up with excuses (some valid) as a means to say, “well I wish I could’ve done that but…”. I mentioned this in another post, about how the 20’s are “supposed” to be the best time of our lives. With not much responsibility, an acceptance to explore ourselves and the world, and live without many regrets. Except, wasn’t the same thing said about our high school years like 1-3 decades ago?
Whenever I see the phrase “(insert age) is the new (insert younger age)”, I feel that’s our way of fighting social norm and saying that we don’t have to be just that younger age to do something. See, the 20’s doesn’t have to be the only time of our lives that we can fully enjoy. The ones who say that I feel reflected and regretted their life choices. My bias self wants to say it’s those who put career first, or didn’t want to get out of their comfort zone. Whatever the case may be, at any age we can do nearly anything we want. We just have to be willing to make sacrifices and understand it may not be exactly how we imagined it to be. In the case of my friend and I’s conversation, it dealt with travel and work. They were saying that my age was perfect to just see the world and not worry about responsibilities. But again, we can travel for fun or work at any age.
Even if family aspirations (or actuality) existed, one could still move the family. Certain factors may play influence though, like friends and other family members, but if everyone was okay with moving then be like Nike and just do it. As we get older, the nest which we grew up in starts to get too big for us, so we have to eventually fly out and create our own little nest. Some may be close to home, while others far away in a distant land. The point is that we sooner or later become the masters of our own domain, and we do have to look out for ourselves. We need that security for when we get older. Because of society’s expectations, it’s looked down upon or embarrassing if someone in their 30’s or 40’s lives at home. Yet ironically, it’s okay if you’re maybe 60+ years old living with your kids. If we can just snap the norms that decree what is mature, what is expected at certain ages, then maybe more people would be willing to take chances. Many people worry too much about falling, that they don’t realize that they are already on the ground and they simply stayed on their ground.
If you’re 40 and want to travel, go ahead and travel. If you’re 29 wanting to date that 52 year old, then go ahead and date them. If you’re 21 and want to save and invest, rather than partying, then do that if you want. Let’s stop shaking our heads at others who are living their life, and wishing we could’ve done certain things when we were young. It’s never too late. It may not be as we expected, and sure maybe different than if we were younger, but that shouldn’t stop one from exploring life after the age of 30. Understandably not many people can just drop their things and do what they wish to do, but what they can do they must let go of the fears that may come with it. Follow how you feel, no matter where you are in life, but also be smart about the choices being made. The whole point of this post, and my blog, is that we should try and break the constants 
in our lives that hold us back or make our lives mundane. There’s a whole world out there, filled with opportunities and people to see, so go out and meet them. No matter how old one is, how long something may last, etc. go out and do it. You’re never too young or old to do things like traveling, falling in love, make memories and other things. It may be easier or harder as we get older, but that’s just a part of the story that makes us who we are. So, what do you plan on writing for your next chapter. . .?
Novatourist 