A year older, a year wiser.
22 is the age when reality hits you and you realize that time is going to fly pass no matter what, whether you want to grow up or not. So, I want to learn to make the most out of my time. Focus on happiness and kindness. Embrace sadness, anger, frustration, failure and get over them. Speak less and listen more.
22 is the age you take love seriously. Love while you can. Everything begins with love. If you love yourself, you will not smoke. If you love your friend, you advise them to quit smoking. If you love your mom, you quit smoking because you know she will be disappointed in us. If you love your partner, you compromise. If you love your colleague, you listen to their opinions. I want to learn to love, genuinely.
22 is the age you no longer feel young. Not physically, but emotionally and psychologically. Young enough to still go clubbing and drinking, but old enough to realize that health is wealth. Without health, I can't earn money, I can't travel the world, I can't love the ones I love. Call me old-fashioned but it is what it is when it comes to life.
22 is the age you have barely any friends, especially, true reliable friends. Those whom you do not have to talk to every day to maintain the friendship. Those who are miles away but close at heart. Those who can almost read your mind and emotions like dolphins.
22 is the age you are alone, but not necessarily lonely. Well at least for me, I started enjoying doing things alone. Shop alone, travel alone (want to try that soon), eat alone... They are not as bad as they sound. I want to learn to put the focus on myself. Learn to embrace my feelings. Love if I love. Hate if I hate. Smile if I'm happy. Cry if I'm sad. Everyone is going to judge you, regardless of what you are doing. So just do it.
22 is the age you learn how to talk to someone. Learn how to take care of the feelings of others. Learn how to respect everyone and everything. Learn how not to offend someone, because words spoken cannot be taken back. Words heard cannot be unheard.
22 is the age you thought you know yourself well but you are wrong. I thought I was an extrovert, but I start to enjoy being alone, like how an introvert loses energy after being in crowds. Being around people does make you feel accompanied, but being around people for too long makes you feel even lonelier, because not everyone knows your story and what you've been through. Everyone is just like a friendly stranger.
22 is the age when birthdays get less and less exciting. Birthdays are just reminders about the 365 days, 8760 hours that you have just wasted. Birthdays are just reminders of who remembers your birthday and who you "thought remembers your birthday" forgets your birthday. Birthdays are just ordinary days with a few more Facebook notifications popping up and receiving that "once in a year" message from your friends.
22 is the age when every social media especially Facebook never fails to remind you that you are old af. Reminding you of good or bad memories from years and decades ago. Reminding you of how slim you used to look and how life used to be so carefree.
22 is the age you start to agree that "the older we are, the lesser friends we have". Its becoming about the quality, not quantity. Having 1000 friends on Facebook feels like having 998 strangers instead. It is also the age when the number of your Instagram followers are constant for at least half a year.
22 is the age you start to become a morning person instead of a night person because you are too tired for clubbing, too awake for sleep, but too old to stay up so you end up sleeping early XD
Happy birthday, me.