So you’re feeling a little behind in life. Sure, you’re not a millennial living on an air mattress tweeting your opinions about the new Batman to the void, but you aren’t your friend Mark who just got a Peloton from Jeffries. Many of your friends are doing worse than you; you got a few that are already entrenched in rehab programs- maybe one already has his second DUI, yet every “I’m so excited to announce…” Linkedin notification is a dagger to the heart. You’re somewhere in the middle for the first time in your life, which terrifies you.
But, the fact that it stings that you missed out on an internship or that you settled for a job is a good thing. You’re in the pocket of life right now. Your Dad’s health insurance is right tackle, the fact your parents still got you for the phone bill is at left guard, and your youth and eagerness to learn is at center. I get it, it sucks seeing your more successful friends out in New York, Chicago, or LA taking selfies with Tiesto while rolling face, but you are exactly where you need to be right now. Maybe it’s a summer class, a graduate degree, or taking a breath of fresh air and lifeguarding for a summer. You have the next sixty years to worry about what could have been, so make your stories now.
I’m not encouraging anybody to be the person who completely Albert Haynesworth’s their twenties; if you want to end up living anywhere near a beach by the time your sixty, you’re going to have to miss out on some bar crawls now. All I’m saying is that life has no blueprint. This isn’t the ’50s. You most likely aren’t going to come home to two kids and a golden retriever by the time you’re twenty-nine. Life is unfair. It’s not right that the kid you know whose Dad has been working at Morgan Stanley since the Berlin Wall fell, despite the fact he couldn’t name eleven state capitols. You’re only in control of yourself. Have fun, be patient, and work hard- everything will sort itself out. Love you guys.
