twentysomethings - just DO it

So I've been on a twentysomething kick recently. Books, thinking, talking with friends and family.

I decided this past spring that I wanted to look for jobs outside of the education world, which was a pretty big adjustment. Since then, I've gotten a lot of support...helpful & unhelpful.

Lots of "you have so many options" or "you can do anything you put your mind to", with the even more often "so what are you thinking of doing?" 

As I've discussed with numerous friends my age, the latter question is almost worse than that year everyone was asking about your college choice. It reminds me that I haven't made a choice, and that I need to. At first, I often joked that my back-up was teaching English somewhere far away, 

reflecting my uncertain direction.

As I grew accustomed to the question, and spent more time reflecting, that question has become an opportunity. A sounding board. A chance to make new connections and to talk with people in successful careers. The whole "limitless options" thing just isn't true. All of us twentysomethings have a great deal of choices behind us. Easier choices for the most part, but a life path all the same. We have strengths, weaknesses, passions, stories and experiences 

that will most certainly help direct us forwards. 

I'm currently reading "The Defining Decade" by Meg Jay, and I recently finished "Adulting" by Kelly Williams Brown. 

"Adulting" is hilarious, and if you are/know a twentysomething - buy it right now. Seriously. I have already referred back to this book when writing a thank you note, organizing my desk, doing laundry, and (though I'm slightly ashamed to admit it) cleaning the apartment...among other things. Brown is hilarious, smart, and it's clear she knows that some things just aren't obvious or easy to us in our twenties! I haven't had to *really do major apartment searches yet, but do I know what to look for now? Yes! This book made me feel motivated, excited to get better at this whole adulting thing.

*Well, I did in France...but that's a whole other story.

Then I read "Defining Decade". Damn, Meg Jay, talk about uncomfortably challenging (as my friend Asia described it). She's right, the whole thing is uncomfortable. 

As Jay states, "Eighty percent of life's most defining moments take place by age 35."  

Are you kidding?!?! Well that leaves me about 10 BIG years. Pressure's on people!!

We learn about "identity capital", and I reflect happily on my 2+ years out of college & what I've done. Maybe I'm not in the career I want to be in, but I've got some fantastic stories and 

experiences that have shaped who I am today. 

Those years helped bring me here, and they're going to continue to help me along the road. 

But it'll also resonate with twentysomethings because she really does know what this time is like for most of us. Sometimes it does feel like you're in the middle of the ocean, and you don't know which way to swim, or if you should wait and see if someone comes along to rescue you. 

What I'm learning is that you need to make the choice. You need to DO.

Being a twentysomething can be hard. We're told it's the best years of our lives, but reality is tough. The economy is in the dumps, the culture is very different than that of our parents, 

the world is at our fingertips..I mean this list goes on and on. 

I freaking love being 24. I loved being 23. And 22. These are major growing years and I can feel it,

 and to me - that's as exciting as it is stressful. 

Who knows where I'll be a year from now?!

That's what I would have said a month ago.

Now, no - I don't know what I'll be doing or where I'll be. 

But I have a direction & I know to keep moving forward. Make the choice, don't stop moving.

And really, buy the books!

xo bises