TiK ToK
Some people have their lives planned out from the age of 5 knowing they want to be a vet or a firefighter. Some people have a Pinterest board as a teenager of exactly what they plan for their wedding. Some have 5 year plans, some 10, while others have lifelong plans… Me on the other hand, I’m lucky to have a plan for tomorrow.
Tick Tock
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve tried the whole planning my life thing. In my case it’s always been all or nothing. It’s either mimicking the Friends theme song and planning my day, my week, my month and even my year like a psychopath stalker with pins and red string or it’s absolutely nothing and I’m flying by the seat of my pants.
Tick Tock
Did I plan on studying for 9 years after school and being the mature age student that I used to take the piss out of as a fresh 18 year old? Did I plan on being in my late 20’s and single with no serious prospects on the horizon? Did I plan on moving back in with my parents and living with them at the ripe old age of 28? Did I plan on loosing 2 years of my life to Covid? Did I plan on still playing elite basketball to this day, when I started at an innocent and naïve 7 year old stepping onto the court for the first time? Short answer no.
Tick Tock
So “why now?” you might ask, why after all these years is this bugging me now? Well as of just over 2 months ago, I hit the ripe old age of 28. The age where social norms tell you that you should have your life sorted out, the age where science starts to tell you that women have a biological clock tick-tick-ticking away and the age where social media begins to show you all of your friends who seemingly have their lives together more than you: buying houses, getting engaged or married and having kids.
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It’s a weird age… An age where you’re never entirely sure whether to say “oh sh*t” or “congratulations” when someone tells you they’re pregnant. An age where some people have everything together and others are off in Greece and Croatia on a Contiki party boat destroying their livers one shot at a time. An age where you’re never entirely sure whether you’re heading to a friend’s house for dinner where everyone brings a dish and a bottle of red wine to chat about engagements and house purchases or you’re bringing gin and vodka for a night of cocktails and less sophisticated fun.
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It is easy to feel overwhelmed when it seems that everyone around you has their lives sorted. When the majority of your close friends are in long term relationships with the person they will likely marry or be with for the rest of their lives. When these same friends are in the market for buying houses together and whom have job security in jobs they love that they want to do for the rest of their lives.
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But who’s to say that my life clock is the same as everyone else’s. Who’s to say that social norms and the expectations of those around you are the same for everyone. Yes, I might see 10+ life announcements every month on Facebook and Instagram, but what about the other 950+ friends whose lives are just as mediocre as mine. And don’t even get me started on the leaps and bounds of science in aiding the “biological clock of a woman”.
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Part of me wants to say that life’s not a race… If it was, we would have found a way to reverse Benjamin Button ourselves and fast forward our lives to 100 to get our letter from the Queen and die. But that’s an awfully depressing thought that honestly doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun. So instead, I think my mantra is to run your own race in life… Your own path. It’s not a competition of who can do what and when but instead a time for each person to enjoy their individual journey (I shuddered too as I wrote it), wherever that may take them.
Tick Tock
So what do I say to all those Samuel L. Jacksons of the world who keep telling us “Tick Tock Motherf**ker”? I scream F**K THE CLOCKS (but in my head…Where no one else can hear… Cause Samuel L. Jackson kind of comes across as a really scary dude 😛).
