Push Until Pushed
Push until you get pushed back. A friend and co-worker turned 25 years old today. As he enjoyed a surprise box of donuts at his desk, the other employees around him shared their thoughts on what it meant to be that age from their perspective.
While most weren’t particularly notable or filled with any insight or wisdom to pass along, one person’s thoughts stood out to me. She talked about how she had her “Quarter Life Crisis” which is a funny way of saying how we assume we will live to be 100 and we now have enough behind us to realize just how short life can can feel.
She recounted her dread to a degree that worried me for the ‘Birthday Boy,’ so I stepped in to balance out the conversation. “So far, I feel that being the ages of 25 to 28 were some of the best times I’ve had.” He laughed encouragingly, “Well that’s promising!”
It had me thinking about my own age and that I’ll be turning 32 in April. It’s wild to think about because I don’t feel like I can claim to be that old as if because my inner critic feels too immature despite having learned so much or that my path in life isn’t in the trajectory I had imagined.
Regardless, I wondered why my feelings of being older were different than hers. What behaviors do I recognize in myself that may have not possessed hers in order to have a more positive outlook with aging. I had to rewire my brain at a certain point to not think that I’m loosing youth, but gaining wisdom. When you’re younger, burn up as much of your energy as possible. Live life fully and explore every curiosity that comes to your mind. In other words, ‘Push until you get pushed back.’ Find where your limits are, as close to the edge of fear and stupidity without harming yourself or others and report back everything you’ve learned.
I’m not claiming that 32 is old by any means out of curtesy to anyone who’s lived more than I have, but with every passing year, I leave the previous age knowing that I tried as best as I could to do what I set out to do that year and If where I’m at is the result of that, I will be content with that and continue to push myself from there until the world pushes back.
-Busy Brain