Twenty Something

We've come a long way and yet this is only the beginning.

Luther Vandross

With thirty around the corner being just a few days away, (I could have sworn I just turned 21 the other day) I have been reflecting a lot on my twenties. How things went and how I got  to where I am today. 

My early twenties were very shaky so I’m praising the Lord while typing this. Would I do it all over again? Do I have any regrets? Of course everyone would like do overs especially when we look back at very dark times and need flash lights to see what was going on  - yes. It was that dark-  but I would not be who I am today if I had not gone through it. It was trial and error. Being a maze runner. Going in circles. Falling not wanting to get back up , staying down for a while and then finally deciding to get back up again and it still somehow looks like this is only the beginning.

My twenties were wild but fun, exhausting but they expanded me, draining and yet at the same time they also nurtured me. Sure there were some choices that were highly questionable: you shouldn’t drink wine to help you sleep because it will turn into an addiction and when you get a letter, open it. It won’t go away and it will only get worse, I promise you. 

I was afraid of the big 30. The closer I got to it the more I felt like a failure because what had I achieved? My mistake was looking at what other people had achieved under thirty. That Forbes 30 under 30 list will have you feeling like you’re as smart as a piece of cloth. A complete and total failure. But now that thirty is so close I can practically taste it, and it’s giving me sweetness, a rich kind of flavor. 

I’m realizing that it’s not about the materialistic things I have achieved. Those things are great and we should never stop striving but it’s also never too late to achieve them regardless of your age. People were really out here acting like 30 meant you were going to die at any given moment and that your life was practically over but I now look at thirty like a new and better chapter of a captivating book. If twenty was my trial and error, rock bottom, looked death in the eye decade. I’m hopeful and almost certain that my thirties will be my flourishing, growth, seeing the fruits of my labor decade. Of course things don’t just happen, you don’t turn thirty or any age for that matter and then poof the magic happens. If we approach anything with that kind of mentality we’re in for a rude awakening. It is work to manifest the life of our dreams, not just words. The advantage that we do have is that at any given stage, the ball of experience is in our court, what we decide to do with it is entirely and completely up to us no one will do the work for us, that’s also another thing I have learned. Nothing says adulting more than making your bed and having to lie in it. Whether it is fresh, cozy and comfortable or dirty and uncomfortable is entirely up to us.

Cheers to a new age, cheers to a new decade, cheers to me for being awesome (compliment yourself every chance you get!) and cheers to whoever is reading this, you’re the real mvp.

Love, 

Maame.