Tonight, we are young

I think many young people who are at school or even university are in a rush to grow up. On the one hand I can empathise with them, on the other I envy them, as they have a clean slate and the opportunity not to make the mistakes that I made at their age. I think my little sister for example can get higher grades at university, can do more than I did when I was her age, go out more, travel more etc.

But on the other hand, I completely empathise with people who want to get their school and university career in particular, over with. I hated academia, I was never good at it and had the attention span of a goldfish. I loved the sport aspect of being at university, it was the biggest highlight for me, more even than the social side. But when it came to large amounts of reading I struggled as I have my whole life. 

It all stems as most things have in my life, from my Epilepsy and the continuous Petit-mal Auras I had numerous times on a daily basis. 

But I would like to stay in my mid 20s for a good while longer and relish the age I am. It's a point in my life where I feel more independent, feel like I am doing something worthwhile and am enjoying my life outside work too. 

There is an interesting social aspect to my life however that wouldn't be something that someone would expect someone with Epilepsy to enjoy. I am safe drinking alcohol, be it on hockey socials or out with my friends in a club or bar. I also, like the majority of people with Epilepsy, have no issues with strobe lighting, so thoroughly enjoy clubbing. 

I'm sure in my 30s I will look back at my 20s and think I should have done things differently and probably wished I wasn't as keen to grow up. But then I thought, like many people in their teens, that I would be getting married and having kids in my mid 20s. I couldn't even begin to think about that as a realistic idea now I am there, but when I was a teenager I thought my mid to late 20s was fairly a mature and old age. 

How time flies!

It was a big achievement for me to be the youngest British female to complete RAAM across all categories. But again it was also a learning experience.

I think your teens and 20s should be a time when you can be relaxed, eventually settle down be it in work, in a relationship or in life generally, but that you should never wish the time away. I have an issue of looking to far forward to the next thing I will do. Sometimes that's an attribute, but in many cases, I wish I could stop and appreciate the present more. I think if I'm not careful I will spend so much time planning what I am going to do next, that I will miss out on absorbing the amazing experiences I am going through at the moment. 

The irony with many, especially those who had a more difficult young life be it through Epilepsy or something else, is this. If you spend your life wishing you could have done your time at work quicker to be more senior in a job, be older to be able to get married or have kids, get out of a situation like school, by the time you get to the point in your life where it happens, you've missed out on what you did to get there.

There's a great quote from the TV series Sex in the City: "Your 20s are to make your mistakes, your 30s are to learn your lessons and your 40s are to pay for the drinks."

I think it's a great motto to live your life by however I would simply say:

You're only young once: Be reckless, fun, crazy, in love, out of love, energised, make mistakes, be inspired, learn a bit...... you can always grow up later.