Before We Become

Hi, this is my first blog. I want to start with something personal and familiar to many of us.

As a child, the place where we grew up could feel like our whole world.  It made us feel as though we knew everything that was there to know, until we realized that it was just a small part of a much bigger world. Life was simple as a child. We found happiness even in ordinary things. Life was measured by friends, family, relatives, teachers, festivals. Small moments that we once disregarded as unimportant later became precious memories as adults. Also worrying about the future? It was nowhere near us. We were happy even without our smartphones, unlike now, where we cannot even imagine a life without the internet.

Then suddenly, we entered a new stage. A stage where questions began to arise. Questions about our careers, relationships, belongingness, and identity. What do I want to become? Where do I belong? What kind of life do I want? What is my purpose in life? This is the strangest part of growing up. Life becomes full of uncertainties. As a child, we dream of growing up but as adult we yearn to return to the same carefree life we once had.

Our 20s are the phase between youth and adulthood. It is when the pressure to build a career, maintain relationships and search for a purpose in life begins. Pressure from family and relatives, along with financial struggles, creates a wall between us and our ambitions. This is where the real test begins. The dreamy vision of the other side of the world we once imagined slowly starts to fall apart. We begin to understand the realities that we were never told. Negativity starts to surround us. And along the way, we forget about our own happiness. Everyone becomes busy, trying to survive with their own lives.

And then something else became a part of our lives: SOCIAL MEDIA. We start comparing ourselves with the successful people online. Social media makes everyone else’s life appear more beautiful and exciting, and that is where the fear begins to grow inside us: the fear of falling behind. We start dismissing the achievements we already made and take our own lives for granted. We fail to understand that behind those successful faces hides the stories of hard work, failure, self-doubt, loneliness, and sacrifice. We are presented with the results and not the journey. Some are beginning their careers, some are continuing their studies, some are travelling, and some are simply trying to understand what they want from life. Watching everyone move in different directions can make us wonder whether we are falling behind.

Slowly we start to dream big. The surroundings that once seemed to be our entire world as children now become just a small part of the world we begin to dream of. A life beyond the familiar world. This creates a tension between familiarity and ambition. The fear of losing what seems familiar and the excitement of changes that are about to come. We learn that the world can be both exciting and complicated.

But it was never a race. Everyone has their own pace, their own goals. There is no fix age to achieve the life we want. Our 20s are an age where we can feel confused, rushed, and lost. The only way out is hard work and not quitting. This is a test that everyone has to go through and those who can get out of it are the real winners. It takes time to figure out your whole future. But once you begin to understand this, you become unstoppable.

It is not the end, rather the beginning of a beautiful journey.