In honor of my 25th birthday this week, I felt it might be apt to jot down 25 things I have learned over the course of my quarter-century on earth, if only to assure myself that, yes, I am a functioning, maturing human being, not merely the totally awkward spaz I feel like 99% of the time. Enjoy...
1. No one could ever embarrass me more than I continually humiliate myself. Also, if I ever want to stop embarrassing myself, I need to abstain from alcoholic beverages of all kinds.
2. If you want a guy to buy you a drink, proclaim you have never tried one of the following: an Irish Car Bomb, a Jager Bomb, a Flaming Dr. Pepper (careful with this one), or a Red Headed Slut. Or find out what his favorite drink is and say you've never tried it. Typically, the guy will be so amazed that you haven't had the drink, he will have to get one for you. It's kinda like taking your virginity, right there in the bar. (Just to note, to the guys who have bought me drinks this way, I'm pretty sure I've always been honest about not having tried something. I hope so, at least.)
3. Certain songs have the ability to teleport me back to a certain time and place, no matter how many times I have heard them, not matter the change in context.
4. I love giving blood. And I feel like it's my duty to do it as often as I can because I don't have issues with needles and/or blood-letting, even if I have to lie and say that I weigh enough. (Plus, its so worth the Famous Amos cookies you get when you're done.)
5. My expectations of myself are high, but I don't always arrange my life to meet them. I am scared of failure, but also terrified of success.
6. Just as parenthood shouldn't be measured by biology, friendship shouldn't be measured solely by how long you have known a person. These relationships need nurturing and, like trust and respect, are earned, not given.
7. My intuition should always be trusted.
8. While I am pretty open, adventurous, etc, there are certain things I refuse to do and no one's gonna make me.
9. Say what you need to say. My uncle Ken, who has cancer, says that the one thing he has learned from living with a terminal illness is to be free with his emotions--basically, don't hold back. If you knew you would die tomorrow, what would you say to the person you love, someone you had a falling out with, etc? Why not just say it anyway?
10. Never put files on someone else's hard drive.
11. Dirt. Don't. Hurt.
12. Lying to my mom is the worst idea ever. Especially because she is the one person I know I can always depend on, anytime, anywhere. She's is, without doubt, my best friend.
13. It's possible to have a heart-pounding crush after the age of thirteen. (In fact, having a crush on someone when you're older is better because there is an added potential for sex.)
14. Thank God I didn't peak in high school. It's way better to be the nerdy, bra-stuffing awkward kid in elementary/middle/high school and then get to be at least semi-okay for the rest of your life.
15. I have accepted that I will always have a little stomach pooch, that my inner thighs will always touch, and that puberty did not (and will not) leave it's womanly mark on my body. Also, giving up carbs is impossible and regular candy consumption is necessary.
16. My 818 cell phone area code rocks.
17. The prospect of death doesn't get less scary, or more real, as I've aged.
18. I'm gullible, which can be both good and bad, but not always trusting.
19. I'm easily disappointed by men--they are often never as wonderful as I hope they are. But, maybe the problem is me? I hope for too much? If I learn to communicate what I want or expect in a relationship--focus on my needs instead of being a people-pleaser--I can perhaps shield myself from disappointment. I hope.
20. I'm not ready to get married, have kids, or really believe I am an adult. But I really wish I was. I wish sometimes I could be one of those girls who wants the huge, fluffy wedding and can breeze through life not thinking too much about it. (This is probably because I used to be one of those girls.)
21. Getting my belly button pierced was totally cool, in 2001, but I'm glad I let it close up.
22. I never have anything to wear. Which is convenient because buying clothes makes me happy.
23. Relationships are not easy. But. Don't stay in a relationship thinking the other person will change, or that two years of pretty consistent fighting/unhappiness is simply a "rough patch." Life is too short to be with the wrong person. Life is way too short to live without passion.
24. Guacamole is delicious. (On that note, the act of trying new foods, such as the guac, often yields no negative effects. However, if someone wants me to try ranch dressing or cream cheese, forget it. At 25, I have decided I will never eat either of those. I don't care how good people say they are.)
25. Life makes no sense sometimes. But, like art, it can pay off in its weird, wonderful way.
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5 comments:
1. Ranch dressing is disgusting.
2. I removed my belly-button ring before college and it STILL hasn't closed up completely. Tell me your secrets!!! haha
Whew--glad to know I'm not missing anything!
Oh and I still have a teeny hole/scar on my bellybutton, but it's barely noticeable. I guess when I say "closed" I mean that I can't physically put the barbel back in. :)
Maggie, try vitamin E lotion/oil.
Natasha,
15 and 16 I <3 because I am proud to subscribe to both!
*flicks shirt*
I'd like to discuss 17, 19 and 20... 20 in particular is something I definitely have floating about in my brain and would like to discuss with you. In my experience, many women are thrown off when I tell them I have certain misconceptions about why I "should" be programmed to want or be ready for a family or kids etc. when quite frankly, I'm not right now, and I'm not setting a date for when I will be.
and to both of you regarding 21... thank you, thank you, thank you... IMO, belly button pierced = not as hot as w/out. It messes up the lines... same reason you don't put a tacky spoiler on a well designed sports car.
I hope that analogy isn't misconstrued.
In regards to 19/20, it was really difficult for me to realize that as much as I wanted marriage and a steady boyfriend who I thought would marry me sometime in the next two or so years, I wanted it for the wrong reasons. I thought that being at that part of my life would somehow cure the anxiety I felt about being 20-something and not knowing what I wanted to do.
The difficult thing was that I knew I needed to make a huge, life-changing decision. Sometimes realizing a decision has to be made (that you can't keep living the way you have been for a long time) is the hardest part, not actually putting the decision in action by, in my case, breaking up.
I think many of us are so ready to get out of our purgatorial twenties we want to believe that there actually is a way. But marriage, kids, etc will not solve any problems, only exacerbate them.
Amen sister.
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