So yeah, this is something I have thinking about a fair bit
recently.
How do we judge if someone is acting their age? Should we?
Well for a child there are loads of ways to determine this,
mainly through developmental stages that broadly follow the patterns of the
levels of their education, emotional capacities and behaviour patterns, but what
I’m talking about is adult age.
There comes a time, when we seem to plateau, but in levels and for a very
long time. It has only recently hit me that this is the case, really, through
just talking to people and looking at photographs of my Grandma and Grandad from
their youth.
I mean, the plateau starts when we get to roughly 21 and this is when we’re expected
to be pretty much responsible for ourselves, for example, be in a job, possibly
running a car, paying our own way, doing our own laundry etc.
Between 25-30, parents may start to hint that you should be
thinking about settling down, because ‘Amy’s a lovely girl’, or dumping Martin
for ‘that nice boy over the road, because Martin is not good enough for you’.
You’ve heard it all before.
Then, you might decide to have kids. Of course, this may
have happened in a different order, sometimes surprises happen! Sometimes, the
surprise is that none of this happens at all.
Then, after the husband and kids, comes the process of
keeping the whole thing stuck together, not fucking it up, and being happy
until the end of your days.
For some people, this picture perfect scene is a reality, but for many, the pattern doesn't ring true.
With all this in mind, its no wonder that we lose sight of
who we really are and what we were meant to do in the first place. In my
opinion, the only thing we can really do with life, is live. Given that,
we might as well just get on with it. Don't worry about other's expectations, concern yourself with your own.
Instead of thinking about what we should
be doing at our age, we should just let things happen, obviously applying a level of responsibility, such as don't just leave the iron on forever, just in case. If you get married at
21, then good for you. Personally, I would rather die than marry someone now,
because I don’t feel ready and to be honest I don’t know when that will be. I
might be 25, I might be 35, but when the time is right then its all gravy, and
hopefully there’ll be some roast potatoes to join the party if I’ve learned to
cook better by then.
I know so many people who are hung up on what they should be
doing for their age. To be honest, I can be just as bad. I started out on my
course thinking I was too young, but who says? Just because I’m the youngest in
the staffroom doesn’t mean I’m any less ready to be there, or any less willing
to do the job properly. Age is really just a number (says the 21 year old who hasn't really lived yet I know, I know - contradiction right there! Case in point).
We’re all born, and we’ll all die. What we do between these
times should happen when we feel ready, not when we should be. You can
never predict when something is going to happen or feel that you have let
yourself down if Plan A doesn’t work, because the more you worry about it, the
less likely Plan B, the better plan, is to succeed.
So for anyone who is curious: how old would I be if I didn’t
know my age?
To be honest, I just don’t know. Some days I feel 5 because
I’m hyper and silly and do weird voices, other days 15 because I have a giant
spot on my chin, no one fancies me and my life is OVER etc, and other days I
feel 25 although I’m not even that old yet, because I’ve moved out, have a car,
manage my finances and plan on teaching kids for a living. Sometimes, I feel 70, because I'm in bed watching repeats of Coronation Street on a Saturday night, with some cheese and biscuits. Too cool.
But really, I’m 21, and concerning myself because I’m 22 in a
month and that’s OLD right?
It isn’t at all, but things are expected of us at
certain ages, 22 is now seen as an age where we should have some sort of idea
what our 5 year plan is.
When the fuck did someone come up with this notion?
I’m
sure it didn’t exist back in the 1950s. I don’t have a 5 year plan really.
Although if I set myself targets the top five would be:
1.
Be alive
2.
Be a teacher
3.
Have been on several more ridiculously wonderful
nights out that I will never forget
4.
Have taken Mum and Dad out for a meal and paid,
just to be nice
5.
To stop blinking when fireworks go off, or at
loud noises in general
I think that’s an ok list to be getting on with!
Happy Monday everyone!
