It’s great to be a 20-something, isn’t it?
You’re young, reckless, and curious about what life has to offer you.
You make some good decisions, some bad—but hey, it’s all trial and error. We become a little bit wiser and eventually (hopefully?) learn from our mistakes, which help define us. Your choices in life lead you to the present, and when you look back at all the “what if”s, you just can’t help but mentally slap yourself, cringing at the thoughts of your past.
We Millennials seem to be really good at making the wrong choices, especially in our 20s. I can’t answer as to why many of us seem to struggle with good decision-making, but as far as I’m concerned, I’d like to blame it on my optimism and inner romantic.
The other day, I was having a panic attack that spiralled me into a swirling vortex of regret and fear: Where do I want to go in life? What steps will I take to get there? How badly will eating an entire container of bocconcini affect me? But aside from the bigger picture, something very particular was bothering me. Get ready to roll your eyes, readers—cue the #20somethingproblems.
I’ve been involved in a rather torrid affair. The guy I’m “casually dating” is interested in me, but the question lies as to whether or not he’s interested in me enough to want to make things official. You see, I’m a creature of certainty—I like to know things and plan for them—and this affair is completely out of my comfort zone. It was fun and spectacular, but now it’s just torturous. And so here comes the crossroads: Do I stop seeing him, get stuck in a dreaded miserable state and eventually move forward? Or do I suck it up and continue to see him casually? All in good fun, right?
The answer seems simple, especially from an objective perspective, but it’s not. There are so many factors playing into this that it’s hard to make the “right” decision. And in thinking about this further, I realize I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. I’ll be OK either way because I’m a survivor, but it’s the crossroads like these that we encounter that make or break us. And I’ve weighed out my options for months and I still can’t stand my ground and follow through. Because my optimism says, “Hey, you’re young and having fun—what the hell is wrong with that?” and my inner romantic serenades me with “But he’s so wonderful and makes you happy! (For the most part anyway.)”
Your 20s are like life’s bachelor party: you do everything you can before you hit your 30s, and in between sips of Riesling you think, “Is this really what I should be doing?” and, “Is this really what I want to be doing at X-years-old?” and then you wake up the next morning as a 30-something and think, “Sweet baby Jeebus, what have I done?” The horror!
My point, dear readers, is that encountering a crossroads is inevitable. Sometimes you make the right choices and sometimes you don’t—it depends on what you want out of life. I, being the emotional masochist I am, have a tendency to make the wrong choices. Why? Because bad choices usually make for the better story. And lucky for you readers, I’m willing to share my stories with you.
In this column, you’ll read about my choices, good and bad. You’ll read about my adventures in and out of the city, plus silly word-vomit rants, deeper, philosophical thoughts, and of course, you’ll read what my heart is too afraid to say aloud. Welcome to Sass in the City—I hope to make you vicariously cringe in horror at my mistakes, laugh at my embarrassing moments and hopefully cheer along with me when I do something great.
I’m young, reckless and embrace life as it comes. This is my story—buckle up.
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