Dealing With Getting Older
After turning 28 in January, I find myself feeling more cognizant of my age for the first time in my life. Even though 28 is still extremely young, the reality is that I am closer to 35 than I am to 18. With that can come a lot of mental obstacles. Feeling an increased need to get certain things accomplished. Navigating life choices such as marriage and having children, considering how those choices affect the way you relate with others, and so on. In this article I want to go more deeply into how I am dealing with getting older, and my takeaways thus far.
Blow Before 30
In the rap game, “blow before 30” is a real thing. Afterall, rap is a young mans game. Even though I don’t identify as just being a “rapper”, this phrase does still hold relevancy to my path. With this in mind, it just provides more fuel to go harder than ever before.
It has been said that those 3-7 years after college can be some of the most important and impactful to someone that really wants to make it in life. Afterall, those are the some of the years where you have the most freedom to grind without all the baggage. Even though I don’t plan to have kids when I’m 30, I also don’t want to still be living how I’m currently living either. The more I can get things done and put the work in now, the more I can set myself up to be in the position I want to be in heading into my 30s.
Getting The Most Out of My Youth
As much as I have been blessed to live a great life through most of my 20s, I would be lying if I said that I’d always had as much fun as I’ve really wanted to. Before moving to Orlando, I remember having a clear vision of the kind of balance that I wanted to have up there. Of course class was the priority, but I also moved up there to have fun as well. I wanted to make friends and do cool stuff.
Unfortunately covid cut a lot of that short. I did get out there, and for a guy moving up knowing absolutely no one I did pretty alright. But there was so much more that I never got the chance to do. When I moved back home I realized that there was still plenty of opportunity to have fun, if not more. With no more classes, tests, and homework hanging above my head it just made it all the more easy to have the balance I really wanted in life.
I’ve been blessed to have a lot of good times spent with friends, even since moving back, but even then, it hasn’t been as great as I know it could be. That’s been a big part of the reason why I’ve wanted to move back. I always wanted to have the experience of being a young, independent adult living in the big city. Having endless people to meet, places to go, and fun stuff to do. Getting to experience all the livelihood and joy that comes with that experience.
Making The Most With What I Have
I put out a tweet a while ago that said “If you’re not having fun, might as well be getting some work done”. That’s probably the best way I could describe the way I feel right now.
At the moment it’s 9pm on a Friday night. It’s been a busy day and a busy week. I may not be out having fun, but at least I’m working and being productive with myself. I’m sharpening my skills, building what I can, and getting things set up so that when I do eventually get back to being out in the big city, I have some things to show for myself. Right now I’m loading the bases as much as I can while I have the chance, so that when the sun comes out and it’s time to have fun I can do so with genuine appreciation and joy.
In the meantime, I continue to find new ways to get out, explore, and do good things with what I have. Being a young guy in a retirement community isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t go out and continue living my life. It doesn’t mean that I have to succumb to sitting around and drinking at the local pub because there’s nothing better to do. I can still keep writing and recording my raps, still keep working out and hitting the gym, and still keep doing the other things that I like to do. Hit the golf course and work on my swing. Stop by the pool and take a swim. Grab some food from a local restaurant or the grocery store. If I find people that I can link up with along the way, great. If not, that’s okay too. I am okay with continuing to put the work in and do my thing in the meantime.
28 Is Not That Old
Even though there are times where I walk up to the counter at the grocery store, and feel old in comparison to the young 18-19 year old kid that works there, 28 is not that old. There are times where I talk to friends on the phone and hear them make comments about “getting old”. I can’t help but laugh. To me I’m still extremely young. And I will probably always feel young at heart even in my 80s or 90s.
As far as dealing with some of the things mentioned up top, in regards to getting married, having kids, and things of that nature, that’s why the goal continues to be to move back out to a bigger city. It’s so much easier to be single in an area where that is looked positively on rather than frowned upon. Small towns such as the one I’m living in are no fun to be single in whatsoever.
At the end of the day, I just have to be grateful. It’s a lot better to not be having a lot of fun at 28, but to have clear and direct goals laid out, then to be having a blast but have no real aims and ambitions in life.
To conclude, as always, I want to say thank you for reading this article. I hope you have enjoyed, and I will see you on the next one.
